The effect of medium on selected life-history traits in three clones of Lecane inermis (Rotifera) from activated sludge

We tested the effect of various culture media on life-history traits in three clones of the rotifer Lecane inermis, a potential bulking control agent. Four types of media were tested: a filtrate of activated sludge, mineral water, and each of these media enriched with molasses. The number of live and dead individuals and the number of amictic eggs were counted during the 14-day experiment, and the egg ratio (ER) and mortality rate were calculated. We found that the rotifers were well adapted to the changes in chemical composition of the medium and that the addition of molasses resulted in a significant increase in rotifer abundance. The highest ER was noted after two days, reaching a maximum of 4 eggs per female in treatments with filtrate and molasses-enriched filtrate. The life-history traits varied depending on the clone and the medium, but all of the clones were able to survive and proliferate, even after 14 days of starvation.     

Scheduling on parallel identical machines with late work criterion: Offline and online cases

In the paper, we consider the problem of scheduling jobs on parallel identical machines with the late work criterion and a common due date, both offline and online cases. Since the late work criterion has not been studied in the online mode so far, the analysis of the online problem is preceded by the analysis of the offline problem, whose complexity status has not been formally stated in the literature yet. Namely, for the offline mode, we prove that the two-machine problem is binary NP-hard, and the general case is unary NP-hard. In the online mode we assume that jobs arrive in the system one by one, i.e., we consider the online over list model. We give an algorithm with a competitive ratio being a function of the number of machines, and we prove the optimality of this approach for two identical machines.     

Tuning of level-set speed function for speckled image segmentation

The segmentation of speckled images, as the synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images, is usually recognized as a very complex problem, because of the speckle, multiplicative noise, which produces granular images. In segmentation problems, based on level set method, the evolution of the curve is determined by a speed function, which is fundamental to achieve a good segmentation. In this paper we propose a study of the new speed function obtained by the linear combination of image average intensity and image gradient speed functions. Thus the aim is tuning the combined speed in the segmentation process. We segmented synthetic images by tuning parameters of the new speed function and we evaluated the best computed results. Then we applied this experimental setup to real SAR images, which are PRecision Images, acquired during European Remote Sensing mission, and a Cosmo-SkyMed image. In particular, we are interested in monitoring complex areas with low light covered by clouds, as coastlines and polar regions may be. In Earth Observation, the acquisition of SAR data becomes fundamental, since the SAR sensor can work in the night/day and in all weather conditions.     

Effect of adhesive matrix composition and terpinolene on indomethacin bioavailability in rats from transdermal therapeutic system

Drug-in-adhesive matrix-type transdermal therapeutic systems for indomethacin (IND) were formulated and evaluated. Silicone and two types of polyacrylates were used as the bases of matrices. Terpinolene was used as a penetration enhancer. The physicochemical properties of matrices were determined. The bioavailability study of IND was performed in rats. The presence of IND in blood was demonstrated for each system. The calculated pharmacokinetics parameters for IND mainly depend on the solubility of IND in the adhesive layer. The positive influence of a penetration enhancer on IND bioavailability was observed only for one type of polyacrylate matrices.     

Pr3+/Yb3+:PLZT ferroelectric ceramics for near‐infrared radiation at 1340 nm

The near‐infrared luminescence properties of Pr³⁺/Yb³⁺:PLZT ferroelectric ceramics have been examined for the first time. Independently, upon either 450 nm (Pr³⁺) or 980 nm (Yb³⁺) excitation, luminescence centered at 1340 nm was observed, which corresponds to the ¹G₄→³H₅ transition of Pr³⁺. Several spectroscopic parameters for the ¹G₄→³H₅ transition of Pr³⁺ ions were determined. The average product of emission cross section and radiative lifetime were relatively large for all x/65/35 PLZT samples (x=6‐10) studied, with values close to 105±2 (×10^?26 cm²·s). These spectroscopic investigations indicate that Pr³⁺/Yb³⁺:PLZT ferroelectric ceramics are promising candidate for efficient sources emitting near‐infrared radiation at 1340 nm.     

Influence of native antioxidants on the formation of fatty acid hydroperoxides in model systems

The effect of alpha‐tocopherol (alpha‐T) and quercetin on the formation of hydroperoxides of linoleic and linolenic acids during autoxidation at 60 ± 1 °C was investigated. Three isomers of hydroperoxides were detected using HPLC. Of isomers of linoleic acid hydroperoxides, 13‐hydroperoxy‐octadecadienoic acid trans‐trans (13‐HPODE t‐t), 9‐HPODE cis‐trans (9‐HPODE c‐t) and 9‐HPODE trans‐trans (9‐HPODE t‐t) were identified, constituting 64, 19 and 17% of the total amount, respectively. For linolenic acid, the components 13‐hydroperoxy‐octadecatrienoic acid trans‐trans (13‐HPOTE t‐t), 9‐HPOTE c‐t and 9‐HPOTE t‐t contributed 7, 33 and 60% to the total, respectively. The different dominant hydroperoxide isomers detected in linoleic and linolenic acids during oxidation are related to their chemical structure and the microenvironment of emulsion droplets. The ratios between specific isomers for both fatty acid hydroperoxides did not change during oxidation with or without antioxidants. Alpha‐T effectively inhibited the oxidation of fatty acids and reduced the formation of hydroperoxides. The total amount of the hydroperoxides decreased along with the increase in the concentration of alpha‐T, 1–40 µM. Quercetin inhibited the oxidation of both fatty acids at similar efficiency only at 40 µM concentration. A synergistic antioxidant effect of quercetin with alpha‐T in a binary system on both fatty acids was observed.     

Silicone Surfactants as Potential Lubricating Substances and Bases

This article presents an assessment of the physicochemical and tribological properties of silicone polyether aqueous solutions. Raw materials used in this research were characterized by different oxyethylation and oxypropylation degrees: PEG/PPG-20/20 dimethicone, bis-PEG/PPG-20/20 dimethicone, and PEG/PPG-25/25 dimethicone. The physicochemical properties were determined by surface tension, wetting angle, and atomic force microscopy images. The tribological properties were characterized by the motion resistance changes and wear in a concentrated ball (steel)-on-disk (steel) contact. The results of physicochemical properties indicate that these compounds are surface active and characterized with good wettability of the steel surface. In addition, it was shown that under the conditions of friction they can form an adsorption layer, which lowers friction and reduces wear of friction couples. In summary, oxyethylated and oxypropylated silicone aqueous solutions, particularly at higher concentrations (60–80%), and pure compounds can be used as potential and effective lubricants.     

BODIPY-Based Photosensitizers as Potential Anticancer and Antibacterial Agents: Role of the Positive Charge and the Heavy Atom Effect

Boron-dipyrromethene derivatives, including cationic and iodinated analogs, were obtained and subjected to physicochemical and in vitro photodynamic activity studies. Iodinated derivatives revealed a substantial heavy atom effect manifested by a bathochromic shift of the absorption band by about 30 nm and fluorescence intensity reduced by about 30–35 times, compared to that obtained for non-iodinated ones. In consequence, singlet oxygen generation significantly increased with Φ_Δ values in the range 0.69–0.97. The in vitro photodynamic activity was evaluated on Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus, Gram-negative Escherichia coli, and on human androgen-sensitive prostate adenocarcinoma cells (LNCaP). The novel cationic, iodinated BODIPY, demonstrated the highest activity toward all studied cells. An excellent cytotoxic effect was found against LNCaP cells with an IC₅₀ value of 19.3 nM, whereas the viability of S. aureus was reduced by >5.6 log₁₀ at 0.25 μM concentration and by >5.3 log₁₀ in the case of E. coli at 5 μM. Thus, this analog seems to be a very promising candidate for the application in both anticancer and antimicrobial photodynamic therapy.     

An integrated LC-ESI-MS platform for quantitation of serum peptide ladders. Application for colon carcinoma study

Mounting evidence indicates that MS analysis of the human blood peptidome allows to distinguish between cancer and non-cancer samples, giving promise for a new MS-based diagnostic tool. However, several aspects of already published work have been criticized and demand for more methodical approach has been formulated. Motivated by this we undertook a systematic study of the plasma and serum peptidome using an integrated ESI-LC-MS-based platform, equipped with new data analysis tools for relative and absolute peptide quantitation. We used a high resolution LC-ESI-MS to analyze well-separated MS signals corresponding to peptides, and measured the variability of >1000 peptide signal amplitudes across a set of plasma and serum samples from healthy individuals. By spiking serum samples with known amounts of isotopically labeled versions of a selected set of peptides we measured the variability of their absolute concentration in this sample set and demonstrated a strong influence of clotting time on the concentration of these peptides in serum. Finally, we used this new LC-ESI-MS analytical platform for the differential analysis of healthy versus colon cancer serum samples and found that it was possible to distinguish the two groups with 89.8% sensitivity and 94.6% specificity.