Enhancement of glass-ceramic performance by TiO2 doping: In vitro cell viability,proliferation, and differentiation

A new TiO₂-containing bioactive glass and glass-ceramics based on 50SiO₂-(45-X)CaO-(XTiO₂)-5P₂O₅ system was designed using a sol–gel technique (where X = 5, 7.5 and 10 wt %). The roles of the crystallization behavior and physicochemical characteristics of the designed glass and glass-ceramics which were played in the introduction of TiO₂ substitutions were investigated. Moreover, cell proliferation and differentiation were evaluated against human osteosarcoma cells (Saos-2). The TiO₂/CaO replacements led to the formation of a stronger glass structure and thus increased thermal parameters and the chemical stabilization of the designed materials. The FTIR data confirmed the existence of Ti within the glass and glass-ceramics samples, and no remarkable effect on their chemical integrity was observed. The XRD patterns indicated that calcium-containing minerals, including Ca₂SiO₄,Ca₃(PO₄)₂, Ca(Ti,Si)O₅, CaTiSiO₅, and Ca₁₅(PO₄)₂·(SiO₄)₆ phases were developed as a role of structure/texture under the applied heat-treatment. The results of the cytotoxicity test proved that a safe sample dose is 12–50 μg/ml, at which cell viability is ≥ 85%. The cell differentiation determined by ALP test proved the superiority of glass-ceramics compared with their native glasses. Therefore, the obtained materials could be safely used as novel biocompatible materials for the regeneration of bone tissue.     

Acetylcholinesterase enhances neurite growth and synapse development through alternative contributions of its hydrolytic capacity, core protein, and variable C termini

Accumulated indirect evidence suggests nerve growth-promoting activities for acetylcholinesterase (AChE). To determine unequivocally whether such activities exist, whether they are related to the capacities of this enzyme to hydrolyze acetylcholine and enhance synapse development, and whether they are associated with alternative splicing variants of AChEmRNA, we used four recombinant human AChEDNA vectors. When Xenopus laevis embryos were injected with a vector expressing the synapse-characteristic human AChE-E6, which contains the exon 6-encoded C terminus, cultured spinal neurons expressing this enzyme grew threefold faster than co-cultured control neurons. Similar enhancement occurred in neurons expressing an insertion-inactivated human AChE-E6-IN protein, containing the same C terminus, and displaying indistinguishable immunochemical and electrophoretic migration properties from AChE-E6, but incapable of hydrolyzing acetylcholine. In contrast, the nonsynaptic secretory human AChE-I4, which contains the pseudointron 4-derived C terminus, did not affect neurite growth. Moreover, no growth promotion occurred in neurons expressing the catalytically active C-terminally truncated human AChE-E4, demonstrating a dominant role for the E6-derived C terminus in neurite extension. Also, AChE-E6 was the only active enzyme variant to be associated with Xenopus membranes. However, postsynaptic length measurements demonstrated that both AChE-E6 and AChE-E4 enhanced the development of neuromuscular junctions in vivo, unlike the catalytically inert AChE-E6-IN and the nonsynaptic AChE-I4. These findings demonstrate an evolutionarily conserved synaptogenic activity for AChE that depends on its hydrolytic capacity but not on its membrane association. Moreover, this synaptogenic effect differs from the growth-promoting activity of AChE, which is unrelated to its hydrolytic capacity yet depends on its exon 6-mediated membrane association.     

D-lactic acidosis: a treatable encephalopathy in pediatric patients

Isolation of Salmonella from the feces of impounded dogs was carried out to make clear the recent microbiological condition of dogs introduced into our facilities. Salmonella was isolated from 10 out of 283 samples (3.5%). Inparticular, during the first week after introduction, Salmonella was isolated from nine out of 74 dogs (12.2%). The isolation rate during the first week after introduction was significantly higher than that for dogs introduced later. No isolates were detected from dogs reared for more than 3 weeks after introduction. This study indicates that impounded dogs had the highest risk of infecting a person with Salmonella during the first week after introduction into our laboratory animal facilities, and that we need to pay attention to this fact when handling them.     

An adaptive region segmentation combining surrogate model applied to correlate design variables and performance parameters in a transonic axial compressor

Surrogate models have been widely applied to correlate design variables and performance parameters in turbomachinery optimization applications. With more design variables and uncertain factors taken into account in an optimization design problem, the mathematical relations between the design variables and the performance parameters might present linear, low-order nonlinear or even high-order nonlinear characteristics, and are usually analytically unknown. Therefore, it is required that surrogate models have high adaptability and prediction accuracy for both the linear and nonlinear characteristics. The paper mainly investigates the effectiveness of an adaptive region segmentation combining surrogate model based on support vector regression and kriging model applied to a transonic axial compressor to approximate the complicated relationships between geometrical variables and objective performance outputs with different sampling methods and sizes. The purpose is to explore the prediction accuracy and computational efficiency of this adaptive surrogate model in real turbomachinery applications. Three different sampling techniques are studied: (1) uniform design; (2) Latin hypercube sampling method; (3) Sobol quasi-random design. For the low dimensional case with five variables, the adaptive region segmentation combining surrogate model performs better (not worse) than the single component surrogate in terms of prediction accuracy and computational efficiency. In the meanwhile, it is also noted that the uniform design applied to the adaptive surrogate model has more advantages over the Latin hypercube sampling method especially for the small sample size cases, both performing better than the Sobol quasi-random design. Moreover, a high dimensional case with 12 variables is also utilized to further validate the prediction advantage of the adaptive region segmentation combining surrogate model over the single component surrogate, and the computational results favor it. Overall, the adaptive region segmentation combining surrogate model has produced acceptable to high prediction accuracy in presenting complex relationships between the geometrical variables and the objective performance outputs and performed robustly for a transonic axial compressor problem.

     

Human Milk Antibodies against S1 and S2 Subunits from SARS-CoV-2, HCoV-OC43, and HCoV-229E in Mothers with a Confirmed COVID-19 PCR,Viral SYMPTOMS,and Unexposed Mothers

Background: Preexisting immunity to SARS-CoV-2 could be related to cross-reactive antibodies to common human-coronaviruses (HCoVs). This study aimed to evaluate whether human milk antibodies against to S1 and S2 subunits SARS-CoV-2 are cross-reactive to S1 and S2 subunits HCoV-OC43 and HCoV-229E in mothers with a confirmed COVID-19 PCR test, in mothers with previous viral symptoms during COVID-19 pandemic, and in unexposed mothers; Methods: The levels of secretory IgA (SIgA)/IgA, secretory IgM (SIgM)/IgM, and IgG specific to S1 and S2 SARS-CoV-2, and reactive to S1 + S2 HCoV-OC43, and HCoV-229E were measured in milk from 7 mothers with a confirmed COVID-19 PCR test, 20 mothers with viral symptoms, and unexposed mothers (6 Ctl1-2018 and 16 Ctl2-2018) using ELISA; Results: The S2 SARS-CoV-2 IgG levels were higher in the COVID-19 PCR (p = 0.014) and viral symptom (p = 0.040) groups than in the Ctl1-2018 group. We detected a higher number of positive correlations between the antigens and secretory antibodies in the COVID-19 PCR group than in the viral symptom and Ctl-2018 groups. S1 + S2 HCoV-OC43-reactive IgG was higher in the COVID-19 group than in the control group (p = 0.002) but did not differ for the other antibodies; Conclusions: Mothers with a confirmed COVID-19 PCR and mothers with previous viral symptoms had preexisting human milk antibodies against S2 subunit SARS-CoV-2. Human milk IgG were more specific to S2 subunit SARS-CoV-2 than other antibodies, whereas SIgA and SIgM were polyreactive and cross-reactive to S1 or S2 subunit SARS-CoV-2.     

Impact of graphene oxide nanoparticles and carbon black on the gamma radiation sensitization of acrylonitrile–butadiene rubber seal materials

Seals prepared from acrylonitrile–butadiene rubber (NBR) are primarily used in nuclear services. Nevertheless, at relatively high ionizing radiation doses, NBR seal materials may undergo radiation-induced degradation processes, leading to adverse effects on the sealing ability life. Herein, to strengthen the functional characteristics of NBR seals against radiation, graphene oxide (GO) nanoparticles were prepared and characterized by transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), and ultraviolet/visible spectroscopies. Various NBR/GO composites fabricated with different ratios of GO nanoparticles and in the presence or absence of carbon black (CB) were investigated via cross-linking density, scanning electron microscopy, XRD, FTIR, and mechanical and thermal stability analyses. The synergistic effect of the simultaneous presence of GO and CB on the NBR seal sensitization to gamma radiation up to a dose of 1 MGy was studied. The physicomechanical properties were enhanced by adding GO nanosheets up to 3 phr and by incorporating 35 phr of a CB with GO until 5 phr. Further, the application of γ-irradiation resulted in an overall enhancement in the mechanical, physical, and thermal stability of the prepared composites up to 0.5 and 1 MGy with GO nanosheets in the absence or presence of CB particles, respectively. The mechanical measurements indicated significant increments by loading with GO nanosheets in the absence and presence of CB as well as by irradiation. The tensile strength elevated up to about 121%, 336%, and 366% by adding 3 phr GO, 3 GO:35 CB phr, and 5 GO:35 CB phr, respectively.     

Improved measurement of transketolase activity in the assessment of "TPP effect"

The indirect estimation of thiamine levels in human blood by measuring thiamine pyrophosphate effect on erythrocyte transketolase activity is the method of choice in most clinical laboratories. We describe here an optimized, time-saving, and accurate method to determine the thiamine pyrophosphate effect in as many as 16 blood samples simultaneously. The method is based on a multi-point determination using a computer remote-controlled microplate reader. For multiple sample handling, three pooled reaction mixtures are freshly prepared and loaded onto a 96 well microtitre plate. A pre-written software is then initiated to remote-control the system. The data is retrieved and processed to calculate thiamine pyrophosphate effect by a self-written "macro" on a "Quattro-Pro" worksheet database. This method proves to be highly accurate (coefficient of variance: 2.7%), reproducible (coefficient of variance: 4.1%) and economical.     

Different Estimation Methods for Constant Stress Accelerated Life Test under the Family of the Exponentiated Distributions

The Accelerated Life Testing (ALT) has been used for a long time in several fields to obtain information on the reliability of product components and materials under operating conditions in a much shorter time. One of the main purposes of applying ALT is to estimate the failure time functions and reliability performance under normal conditions. This paper concentrates on the estimation procedures under ALT and how to select the best estimation method that gives accurate estimates for the reliability function. For this purpose, different estimation methods are used, such as maximum likelihood, least squares (LS), weighted LS, and probability weighted moment. Moreover, the reliability function under usual conditions is predicted. The estimation procedures are applied under the family of the exponentiated distributions in general, and for the exponentiated inverted Weibull (EIW) as a special case. Numerical analysis including simulated data and a real life data set is conducted to compare the performances between these four methods. It is found that the ML method gives the best results among other estimation methods. Finally, a comparison between the EIW and the Inverted Weibull (IW) distributions based on a real life data set is made using a likelihood ratio test. It is observed that the EIW distribution can provide better fitting than the IW in case of ALT. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Online scheduling with rejection and withdrawal

We study an online scheduling problem with rejection, in which some rearrangement of the solution is allowed. This problem is called scheduling with rejection and withdrawal. Each arriving job has a processing time and a rejection cost associated with it, and it needs to be either assigned to a machine or rejected upon arrival. At termination, it is possible to choose at most a fixed number of scheduled jobs and withdraw them (i.e., decide to reject them). We study the minimization version, where the goal is to minimize the sum of the makespan and the total rejection cost (which corresponds to the penalty), and the maximization problem, where the goal is to maximize the sum of the minimum load and the total rejection cost (which corresponds to profit). We study environments of machines, which are the case of m identical machines and the case of two uniformly related machines, and show a strong relation between these problems and the related classic online scheduling problems which they generalize, in contrast to standard scheduling with rejection, which typically makes the scheduling problems harder.