Mixtures of tertiary amine functionalized azo-containing mesogens with acid-functionalized polymers

A tertiary amine functionalized 4-nitro-4′-alkoxy azobenzene mesogen with a 10 or 12 carbon spacer (azo-nN) was synthesized and complexed in equimolar proportions with poly(acrylic acid) (PA-H) and poly(sulfonic acid) (PSS-H), and investigated by thermogravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, polarizing optical microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. The neat azo-nN is characterized by a partial bilayer S_A mesophase at higher temperatures, and a highly ordered phase, in which the molecules are stacked orthogonally in bilayers, at lower temperatures. As supported by infrared analysis, for the azo-nN/PA-H mixture, the complexation is partial while for the same azo-nN/PSS-H mixture, complete proton transfer occurs. When the azo-nN is blended with the PA-H, regarded as a weak acid, a biphasic system is generated and the thermotropic behavior of neat mesogen is not significantly affected. In contrast, by mixing the same mesogen with a PSS-H (regarded as a strong acid), the thermotropic behavior is significantly influenced: the complexation generated a partial or interdigitated smectic A or tilted smectic C lamellar phase.     

An Innovative Methodology for the Performance Evaluation of Coated Cemented Carbide Inserts in Milling of Inconel 718

The performance of cemented carbide inserts coated with various PVD-films in milling Inconel 718 is evaluated by innovative analytical and experimental methods. Three PVD films with different micro and macro structures were applied. The coatings’ strength properties were detected by nanoindentations and by impact tests at various temperatures. These results were considered in FEM calculations of the material removal process to determine the mechanical and thermal loadings of the cutting wedge. Employing this innovative methodology, it is possible to capture proactively the effect of the cutting conditions on tool wear, thus reducing the effort dedicated in traditional sequential cutting experimentation.     

One-week low-dose triple therapy vs. two-week medium-dose double therapy for H.pylori infection

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Our study is to compare a short-term low-dose triple therapy with a long-term medium-dose double therapy for H.pylori eradication. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred and ten consecutive patients, suffering from dyspeptic symptoms, with H.pylori infection, were randomly allocated to one of the following 2 groups with different therapeutic regimens: A) omeprazole 20 mg/day for 7 days, tinidazole 500 mg bid for 7 days, clarithromycin 250 mg bid for 7 days (55 pts, 20 with peptic ulcer); B) omeprazole 20 mg bid for 14 days, amoxycillin 1000 mg bid for 14 days (55 pts, 28 with peptic ulcer). The "H.pylori status" was evaluated by means of histology, culture and urease test, at entry and 8 weeks after treatment. RESULTS: Two group A and one group B pts didn't complete the treatment. The H.pylori eradication was obtained in 38 pts of group A (71.69%) (C.I.95%: 55.19176-80.86293), in 31 of group B (58.49%) (C.I.95%: 42.32777-69.7017); on Intention-to-Treat analysis, the rate of eradication gave similar results. Side effects occurred in 9 pts of group A (16.98%), in 8 of group B (14.81%). CONCLUSIONS: Short-term low-dose triple therapy with omeprazole/tinidazole/clarithromycin has a better cost/benefit ratio than long-term dual therapy with omeprazole/amoxycillin in the H.pylori eradication, but it causes more side-effects.     

Spoken emotion recognition through optimum-path forest classification using glottal features

A new method for the recognition of spoken emotions is presented based on features of the glottal airflow signal. Its effectiveness is tested on the new optimum path classifier (OPF) as well as on six other previously established classification methods that included the Gaussian mixture model (GMM), support vector machine (SVM), artificial neural networks – multi layer perceptron (ANN-MLP), k-nearest neighbor rule (k-NN), Bayesian classifier (BC) and the C4.5 decision tree. The speech database used in this work was collected in an anechoic environment with ten speakers (5 M and 5 F) each speaking ten sentences in four different emotions: Happy, Angry, Sad, and Neutral. The glottal waveform was extracted from fluent speech via inverse filtering. The investigated features included the glottal symmetry and MFCC vectors of various lengths both for the glottal and the corresponding speech signal. Experimental results indicate that best performance is obtained for the glottal-only features with SVM and OPF generally providing the highest recognition rates, while for GMM or the combination of glottal and speech features performance was relatively inferior. For this text dependent, multi speaker task the top performing classifiers achieved perfect recognition rates for the case of 6th order glottal MFCCs.     

Satellite-based estimates of groundwater storage variations in large drainage basins with extensive floodplains

This study presents monthly estimates of groundwater anomalies in a large river basin dominated by extensive floodplains, the Negro River Basin, based on the synergistic analysis using multisatellite observations and hydrological models. For the period 2003-2004, changes in water stored in the aquifer is isolated from the total water storage measured by GRACE by removing contributions of both the surface reservoir, derived from satellite imagery and radar altimetry, and the root zone reservoir simulated by WGHM and LaD hydrological models. The groundwater anomalies show a realistic spatial pattern compared with the hydrogeological map of the basin, and similar temporal variations to local in situ groundwater observations and altimetry-derived level height measurements. Results highlight the potential of combining multiple satellite techniques with hydrological modeling to estimate the evolution of groundwater storage.     

Preparation of acidic or bifunctional catalysts by means of straightforward calcination of as-synthesized [Ga]-ZSM-5 zeolites obtained from alkali-free media. Propane aromatization

Propane aromatization (530°C, 1 atm) was used as a reaction model to evaluate the effect of the calcination temperature on the catalytic properties of an as-synthesized [Ga_1.3]-ZSM-5 zeolite obtained from alkali-free media and calcined at two different temperatures: 530°C (C-530) and 750°C (C-750). Results show that in spite of its lower acidity, C-750 is more active and selective toward aromatics than C-530. This is probably due to the fact that at higher temperature the decomposition of organic compounds used during the zeolite synthesis is accompanied by a partial degalliation of the zeolitic support leading to the production of a bifunctional xGa₂O₃ /H-[Ga_y-ZSM-5(2x+y=1.3)catalyst.     

Serratiopeptidase Affects the Physiology of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Isolates from Cystic Fibrosis Patients

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is frequently involved in cystic fibrosis (CF) airway infections. Biofilm, motility, production of toxins and the invasion of host cells are different factors that increase P. aeruginosa’s virulence. The sessile phenotype offers protection to bacterial cells and resistance to antimicrobials and host immune attacks. Motility also contributes to bacterial colonization of surfaces and, consequently, to biofilm formation. Furthermore, the ability to adhere is the prelude for the internalization into lung cells, a common immune evasion mechanism used by most intracellular bacteria, such as P. aeruginosa. In previous studies we evaluated the activity of metalloprotease serratiopeptidase (SPEP) in impairing virulence-related properties in Gram-positive bacteria. This work aimed to investigate SPEP’s effects on different physiological aspects related to the virulence of P. aeruginosa isolated from CF patients, such as biofilm production, pyoverdine and pyocyanin production and invasion in alveolar epithelial cells. Obtained results showed that SPEP was able to impair the attachment to inert surfaces as well as adhesion/invasion of eukaryotic cells. Conversely, SPEP’s effect on pyocyanin and pyoverdine production was strongly strain-dependent, with an increase and/or a decrease of their production. Moreover, SPEP seemed to increase swarming motility and staphylolytic protease production. Our results suggest that a large number of clinical strains should be studied in-depth before drawing definitive conclusions. Why different strains sometimes react in opposing ways to a specific treatment is of great interest and will be the object of future studies. Therefore, SPEP affects P. aeruginosa’s physiology by differently acting on several bacterial factors related to its virulence.     

Microbiota Composition in Diverticular Disease: Implications for Therapy

Gut microbiota (GM) composition and its imbalance are crucial in the pathogenesis of several diseases, mainly those affecting the gastrointestinal tract. Colon diverticulosis and its clinical manifestations (diverticular disease, DD) are among the most common digestive disorders in developed countries. In recent literature, the role of GM imbalance in the onset of the different manifestations within the clinical spectrum of DD has been highlighted. This narrative review aims to summarize and critically analyze the current knowledge on GM dysbiosis in diverticulosis and DD by comparing the available data with those found in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The rationale for using probiotics to rebalance dysbiosis in DD is also discussed.     

Determination of viability of Aeromonas hydrophila in increasing concentrations of sodium chloride at different temperatures by flow cytometry and plate count technique

Aeromonads in waters and foods can represent a risk to human health. Factors such as sodium chloride concentration and temperature can affect growth and viability of several food and water-borne pathogens. The behaviour of an Aeromonas hydrophila strain in the presence of 1.7%, 3.4% and 6% NaCl concentrations at 24 degrees C and 4 degrees C was studied over a 188 day period. Viability and membrane potential were assessed by flow cytometry; growth was evaluated by plate count technique. Flow cytometry evidenced that A. hydrophila retained viability over the period although varying according to temperature and salt concentrations. Colony Forming Units were generally lower in number than viable cells especially in the presence of 6% NaCl, indicating the occurrence of stressed cells which maintain metabolic activity yet are not able to grow on agar plates. In conclusion, A. hydrophila showed a long-term halotolerance even at elevated (6%) NaCl concentrations and a lesser sensitivity to salt at low temperature; therefore, low temperature and salt, which are two important factors limiting bacterial growth, do not assure safety in the case of high initial contamination. Finally, cytometry appears a valid tool for the rapid detection of the viability of pathogenic bacteria in food and environmental matrices to control and prevent health risks.