Intermolecular interactions and formation of the hydration sphere in phosphonic acid model systems as an approach to the description of vinyl phosphonic acid based polymers

Molecular model systems based on propyl phosphonic acid (ppa) were studied by means of density functional theory calculations in order to describe the acid-acid interaction and the formation of the hydration sphere. The formation of ppa dimers is reported and the energetic difference between two dimer structures is presented. The hydration sphere of ppa was represented by model systems ppa(H₂O)_n, for which the system with n=4 formed the first hydration sphere (h¹), while n=7 can be considered a good approximation to the complete inner hydration sphere around the phosphonic acid group. The study of the ppa-H⁺ (H₂O)_n model systems showed an interesting structural behavior comparatively to the ppa(H₂O)_n systems. The protonated acids exhibited equivalent phosphorous-oxygen bonds and a general molecular structure is proposed to represent these protonated species.     

Second primitive malignant tumour in patients with gynaecological cancer

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to characterise the occurrence of multiple primitive gynaecological malignant neoplasias, restricted to the genital tract and breast or associated with other organs, and to detect which types of association are most frequent concerning location, histology and staging. POPULATION AND METHODS: The records of patients with gynaecological cancer at the Portuguese Institute of Oncology--Lisbon Centre, between 1986 and 1993 were used in this study. RESULTS: Of the 10,746 women with gynaecological cancer, 91 (0.8%) were found to have a second primitive malignant neoplasia. Of these neoplasias, 64% (58 cases) were also located at a gynaecological site. The most frequent associations were endometrium/breast (13 cases), bilateral breast (12 cases) and ovary/endometrium (11 cases). The majority of primitive multiple gynaecological tumours were synchronous. Regarding gynaecological cancer and non-gynaecological cancer, in 28 cases (31%), the most common non-gynaecological location was the colon/rectum. Five patients had triple tumours. CONCLUSION: Although these situations are relatively rare the possibility of multiple primitive cancers should be considered with the presence of malignant tumours in two or more organs. This distinction between multiple primitive or metastatic cancers could be important for treatment as well as prognosis.     

Are Diamonds a MEMS' Best Friend?

Next-generation military and civilian communication systems will require technologies capable of handling data/ audio, and video simultaneously while supporting multiple RF systems operating in several different frequency bands from the MHz to the GHz range [1]. RF microelectromechani-cal/nanoelectromechanical (MEMS/NEMS) devices, such as resonators and switches, are attractive to industry as they offer a means by which performance can be greatly improved for wireless applications while at the same time potentially reducing overall size and weight as well as manufacturing costs.     

Qualitative and Quantitative Comparison of Plasma Exosomes from Neonates and Adults

Exosomes are extracellular vesicles that contain nucleic acids, lipids and metabolites, and play a critical role in health and disease as mediators of intercellular communication. The majority of extracellular vesicles in the blood are platelet-derived. Compared to adults, neonatal platelets are hyporeactive and show impaired granule release, associated with defects in Soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive fusion Attachment protein REceptor (SNARE) proteins. Since these proteins participate in biogenesis of exosomes, we investigated the potential differences between newborn and adult plasma-derived exosomes. Plasma-derived exosomes were isolated by ultracentrifugation of umbilical cord blood from full-term neonates or peripheral blood from adults. Exosome characterization included size determination by transmission electron microscopy and quantitative proteomic analysis. Plasma-derived exosomes from neonates were significantly smaller and contained 65% less protein than those from adults. Remarkably, 131 proteins were found to be differentially expressed, 83 overexpressed and 48 underexpressed in neonatal (vs. adult) exosomes. Whereas the upregulated proteins in plasma exosomes from neonates are associated with platelet activation, coagulation and granule secretion, most of the underexpressed proteins are immunoglobulins. This is the first study showing that exosome size and content change with age. Our findings may contribute to elucidating the potential “developmental hemostatic mismatch risk” associated with transfusions containing plasma exosomes from adults.     

The T Cell Repertoires from Nickel Sensitized Joint Implant Failure Patients

Nickel (Ni²⁺) is one of the most common allergens, affecting around 10–15% of the general population. As the demand for orthopedic implant surgery rises, the number of surgical revisions due to joint implant failure also increases. There is evidence that some patients develop joint failure due to an immune response to a component of the implant, and we have found that Ni²⁺ is an especially important cause. Hence, understanding the mechanisms by which Ni²⁺ allergy induces joint implant failure becomes a critical research question. The structural basis of Ni²⁺ activation of pathogenic T cells is still not clear. The purpose of this study was to characterize Ni²⁺-reactive T cell repertoires derived from the peripheral blood of joint failure patients due to Ni²⁺ sensitization using single-cell sequencing techniques. We stimulated the proliferation of Ni²⁺ -reactive T cells from two implant failure patients in vitro, and sorted them for single-cell VDJ sequencing (10× genomics). We identified 2650 productive V-J spanning pairs. Both TCR α chains and β chains were enriched. TRBV18 usage is the highest in the P7 CD4+ population (18.1%), and TRBV5-1 usage is the highest in the P7 CD8+ population (12.1%). TRBV19 and TRBV20-1 segments are present in a high percentage of both P7 and P9 sequenced T cells. Remarkably, the alpha and beta chain combination of TRAV41-TRBV18 accounts for 13.5% of the CD4+ population of P7 patient. Compared to current Ni specific T cell repertoire studies of contact dermatitis, the Vα and Vβ usages of these joint implant failure patients were different. This could be due to the different availability of self-peptides in these two different tissues. However, TRBV19 (Vβ17) was among frequently used TCR β chains, which are common in previous reports. This implies that some pathogenic T cells could be similar in Ni²⁺ hypersensitivities in skin and joints. The alignment of the TCR CDR3β sequences showed a conserved glutamic acid (Glu) that could potentially interact with Ni²⁺. The study of these Ni²⁺ specific TCRs may shed light on the molecular mechanism of T cell activation by low molecular weight chemical haptens.     

A significant improvement of both yield and purity during SWCNT synthesis via the electric arc process

This paper deals with the optimisation of the single walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) synthesis by the electric arc technique using so-called heterogeneous anodes filled with Ni and Y catalysts along with either graphite (large-grain or small-grain) or diamond powders. The various carbon nanophases produced were analyzed using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. Plasma physical properties were determined by emission spectroscopy and were correlated to the variation in the carbon products formed. Using large-grain (100 μm) graphite powder corresponded to standard conditions since able to generate impurity-rich SWCNT material resembling that usually described in literature. However, replacing the large-grain graphite powder by small-grain graphite powder (∼1 μm) resulted in a dramatic increase in both the yield and purity of the SWCNTs obtained. On the other hand, a similar result was obtained by using diamond powder (grain size ∼1 μm) instead of the small-grain graphite powder. The results are explained via the erosion modes of the anodes with respect to the apparent density of the powder mixtures filling their cavities. Maintaining a steady plasma composition and a CI/NiI concentration ratio higher than 10⁸ are identified as two conditions required for optimising SWCNT synthesis.     

Neural Network and Classification Approach in Identifying Customer Behavior in the Banking Sector: A Case Study of an International Bank

The customer relationship focus for banks is in development of main competencies and strategies of building strong profitable customer relationships through considering and managing the customer impression, influence on the culture of the bank, satisfactory treatment, and assessment of valued relationship building. Artificial neural networks (ANNs) are used after data segmentation and classification, where the designed model register records into two class sets, that is, the training and testing sets. ANN predicts new customer behavior from previously observed customer behavior after executing the process of learning from existing data. This article proposes an ANN model, which is developed using a six‐step procedure. The back‐propagation algorithm is used to train the ANN by adjusting its weights to minimize the difference between the current ANN output and the desired output. An evaluation process is conducted to determine whether the ANN has learned how to perform. The training process is halted periodically, and its performance is tested until an acceptable result is obtained. The principles underlying detection software are grounded in classical statistical decision theory.     

A multi-start tabu search method for a single-machine scheduling problem with periodic maintenance and sequence-dependent set-up times

In this paper we study a problem of sequencing jobs in a machine with programmed preventive maintenance and sequence-dependent set-up times. The problem combines two NP-hard problems, so we propose a heuristic method for solving it, which hybridizes multi-start strategies with Tabu Search. We compare our method with the only published metaheuristic algorithm for this problem on a set of 420 instances. The comparison favors the method developed in this work, showing that is able to find high quality solutions in very short computational times.     

Photonic textile fibers

The characterization of the emission from nylon fibers containing laser dyes and TIO(2) nanoparticle scatterers indicates laser behavior with linewidths as low as 4 nm in 200- to 800-μm fibers. These materials can be used to produce lasing textiles, which can be used to produce photonic codes for a variety of civilian and military applications.