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Purpose Starting from a critical analysis of the main criteria currently used to identify marginal areas, this paper aims to propose a new classification model of such territories by leveraging knowledge discovery approaches and knowledge visualization techniques, which represent a fundamental pillar in the knowledge-based urban development process. Design/methodology/approach The methodology adopted in this study relies on the design science research, which includes five steps: problem identification, objective definition, solution design and development, demonstration and evaluation. Findings Results demonstrate how to exploit knowledge discovery and visualization to obtain multiple mappings of inner areas, in the aim to identify good practices and optimize resources to set up more effective territorial development strategies and plans. The proposed approach overcomes the traditional way adopted to map inner areas that uses a single indicator (i.e. the distance between a municipality and the nearest pole where it is possible to access to education, health and transportation services) and leverages seven groups of indicators that represent the distinguishing features of territories (territorial capital, social costs, citizenship, geo-demography, economy, innovation and sustainable development). Research limitations/implications The proposed model could be enriched by new variables, whose value can be collected by official sources and stakeholders engaged to provide both structured and unstructured data. Also, another enhancement could be the development of a cross-algorithms comparison that may reveal useful to suggest which algorithm can better suit the needs of policy makers or practitioners. Practical implications This study sets the ground for proposing a decision support tool that policy makers can use to classify in a new way the inner areas, thus overcoming the current approach and leveraging the distinguishing features of territories. Originality/value This study shows how the availability of distributed knowledge sources, the modern knowledge management techniques and the emerging digital technologies can provide new opportunities for the governance of a city or territory, thus revitalizing the domain of knowledge-based urban development.

To describe the methods for the in-person musculoskeletal (MSK) assessment of the RISE FOR HEALTH (RISE) study, a population-based multicenter prospective cohort study designed to identify factors associated with bladder health (BH) conducted by the Prevention of Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms Research Consortium (PLUS).A subset of RISE participants who express interest in the in-person assessment are screened to ensure eligibility (planned n = 525). Eligible consenting participants are asked to complete a standardized MSK assessment to evaluate core stability (four component core stability test, lumbar spine pain (seated slump test), pelvic girdle pain, (sacroiliac joint, anterior superior iliac spine, pubic symphysis tenderness, and pelvic girdle pain provocation test), hip pain (flexion, abduction, internal rotation and flexion, adduction and external rotation) and pelvic girdle function (active straight leg raise). Participants are also asked to complete the Short Physical Performance Battery to measure balance, gait speed, lower extremity strength, and functional capacity.Detailed online and in-person MSK training sessions led by physical therapy were used to certify research staff at each clinical center before the start of RISE in-person assessments. All evaluators exceeded the pre-specified pass rates.The RISE in-person MSK assessment will provide further insight into the role of general body MSK health and dysfunction and the spectrum of BH.

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Astrocytes play a significant role in the pathology of multiple sclerosis (MS). Nevertheless, for ethical reasons, most studies in these cells were performed using the Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis model. As there are significant differences between human and mouse cells, we aimed here to better characterize astrocytes from patients with MS (PwMS), focusing mainly on mitochondrial function and cell metabolism.We obtained and characterized induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived astrocytes from three PwMS and three unaffected controls, and performed electron microscopy, flow cytometry, cytokine and glutamate measurements, gene expression, in situ respiration, and metabolomics. We validated our findings using a single-nuclei RNA sequencing dataset.We detected several differences in MS astrocytes including: (i) enrichment of genes associated with neurodegeneration, (ii) increased mitochondrial fission, (iii) increased production of superoxide and MS-related proinflammatory chemokines, (iv) impaired uptake and enhanced release of glutamate, (v) increased electron transport capacity and proton leak, in line with the increased oxidative stress, and (vi) a distinct metabolic profile, with a deficiency in amino acid catabolism and increased sphingolipid metabolism, which have already been linked to MS.Here we describe the metabolic profile of iPSC-derived astrocytes from PwMS and validate this model as a very powerful tool to study disease mechanisms and to perform non-invasive drug targeting assays in vitro. Our findings recapitulate several disease features described in patients and provide new mechanistic insights into the metabolic rewiring of astrocytes in MS, which could be targeted in future therapeutic studies. ANN NEUROL 2022;91:652-669.

During grinding with forged steel media, sulphides such as pyrite undergo surface changes due to the occurrence of oxidation–reduction reactions, which affect its depression during the concentration process. For this reason, in this work, the surface modification of pyrite during grinding was studied; FTIR, ICP-OES, XRD and SEM-EDS were used for the materials’ characterisation. It was found that the pyrite obtained during grinding showed magnetic susceptibility due to the absorption and superficial formation of magnetite Fe3O4, Fe–O bonds identified by FTIR at 598 cm−1, and of other species, such as oxy-hydroxy-sulphates at 696 cm−1 and goethite α-FeOOH at 875 cm−1. This caused the reversal of the zeta potential magnitude (ζ) from positive to negative at pH 8.3 and 30 min of grinding. The ζ of the pyrite throughout the studied pH ranges was, overall, positive, i.e., +5 mV. However, at pH 10.5 and 15 min of grinding, the ζ turned negative. This was associated with the formation of Fe–CO3 (−2) bonds in the siderite, which were identified with the absorption bands corresponding to 756, 1448 and 1493 cm−1.

Additional file 1: Table S1. Clinical characteristics in T2DM women with and without established coronary artery disease (CHD). Table S2. Factors independently associated with established coronary artery disease in T2DM women participating to the study.

Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death among men in the United States. The androgen receptor (AR) antagonist enzalutamide is an FDA-approved drug for treatment of patients with late-stage prostate cancer and is currently under clinical study for early-stage prostate cancer treatment. After a short positive response period to enzalutamide, tumors will develop drug resistance. In these studies, we uncovered that NOTCH signaling and DNA methylation are a deregulated in enzalutamide-resistant cells. NOTCH2 and c-MYC gene expression positively correlated with AR expression in samples from patients with hormone refractory disease in which AR expression levels correspond to those typically observed in enzalutamide-resistance. The expression of Notch signaling components was upregulated in enzalutamide-resistant cells suggesting the activation of the pathway. Inhibition of this pathway in vitro and in vivo promoted an increase in the sensitivity to enzalutamide with an impact on AR expression. On the other hand, DNMT activity and DNMT3B expression were upregulated in resistant lines. Enzalutamide induced the expression of DNMT3A and DNMT3B in prostate cancer cells with a potential role for p53 and pRB in this process. The overexpression of DNMT3B3, a DNMT3B variant, promoted an enzalutamide-resistant phenotype in C4-2 cells. DNA methylation inhibition, using low-concentration decitabine, and DNMT3B knockdown induced a re-sensitization of resistant prostate cancer cells and tumors to enzalutamide. Decitabine treatment in enzalutamide-resistant induced a decrease in the expression of AR-V7 and changes in genes from the apoptosis, DNA repair and mRNA splicing pathways. Decitabine plus enzalutamide treatment of 22RV1 xenografts induced a decrease in tumor weight, KI-67 and AR-V7 expression and an increase in Cleaved-Caspase3 levels. All the above suggest that Notch signaling and DNA methylation pathways are deregulated after enzalutamide resistance onset, and targeting these pathways restores the sensitivity to enzalutamide.

This work presents the kinetic study of the decomposition in NaOH medium of mercury jarosite whose approximate formula is [Hg0.39(H3O)0.22]Fe2.71(SO4)2.17(OH)4.79(H2O)2.09. The reaction progress takes place on the surface of the compound with diffusion of the hydroxyl ions (OH−) from the solution to the particle surface moving the reaction front toward the interior of the particle, with the release of ions SO42− and Hg2+ from the core to the reaction medium. The decomposition curve can be described by three kinetics stages: an induction period followed by a progressive conversion period and ending the reaction in the stabilization zone. The results of X−ray diffraction showed that as the decomposition reaction progresses the partially decomposed solids lost its crystallinity ending as amorphous solids. For the induction period, the reaction order (n) was 0.52 for [OH−] 0.0187 mol L−1 n = 1.48, whereas the calculated activation energy (Ea) was 81.7 kJ mol−1. For the progressive conversion period n = 0.99 for [OH−] > 0.0057 mol L−1 and for lower concentrations n ≈ 0, with Ea = 56.9 kJ mol−1, confirming that the decomposition process is controlled by the chemical reaction. Based on the calculated kinetic parameters, the partial and global kinetic expressions of the decomposition process were proposed. These models were compared with the experimental results, and it was favorably proven and described the decomposition process of the mercury jarosite in alkaline medium.

Generally, in planetary gearbox diagnostics, vibration transducers are placed on the gearbox case near the ring gear. The relative angular position of the planet gears with respect to the transducer is a useful information for the evaluation of vibration signals related to planet/sun gears. This angular position is usually unknown, or it is known with a large tolerance causing serious difficulties in both gears and bearing diagnostics. In fact, noise and spurious component from healthy planets could overhang the informative content about incipient faults. The present work seeks to propose two alternative methods for the identification of the angular position of the planet gears with respect to the transducer. The first one is based on the study of how the power flows inside the Time Synchronous Average of the ring gear, whilst the second method is based on a modified statistical parameter such as the Crest Factor. The effectiveness of these methods is assessed on the basis of actual vibration signals acquired from a faulty planetary gearbox. The knowledge of the exact angular position of the planet gears allows the diagnostics of both gears and bearings, as proven by extensive experimental activities reported in the paper.

The presence of hazardous jarosites causes a serious environmental problems, releasing potentially toxic elements, principally heavy metals such as Pb, As, Tl, Cr among others to the environment. Thus, the dissolution process of jarosites has to be monitored to assess the environmental impact. In the present work, the different hazardous jarosites were prepared, and characterized by analytical techniques (XRD, SEM, EDS, etc.), and the composition of jarosites was determined by induction-coupled plasma spectroscopy (ICP). Shrinking core kinetic model (SCKM) was employed to understand the stability of hazardous jarosites, studying a complete kinetic analysis of the jarosite dissolution process under different conditions (temperatures and pH). The results show that temperature has the highest effect on stability followed by pH, requiring extreme parameters for high dissolution. The batch experiments show that the results are in good agreement with the SCKM forming a solid layer as by-products. The chemical reaction, i.e. dissolution process performs through mostly controlling stage at extreme pH values and then moved to mass transport in the fluid layer. After analyzing the results, a kinetic equation has been proposed to describe adequately the dissolution process, and it predicts the lifetime of the hazardous jarosites.

This paper investigates the optimum extraction temperature for enhanced total phenolic yields extracted from avocado fruit flesh (Persea americana) using subcritical water extraction, as well as the impact of fruit ripeness on phenol extraction efficiency. Additionally, extraction yield against extraction time was investigated for time intervals of 10 min over an overall extraction time of 30 min. The subcritical water conditions studied were 18 bar, 87 mL/min, and temperatures of 105 &deg, C, 120 &deg, C, and 140 &deg, C. The total phenolic compounds content was compared for week one avocado flesh and ripe (week four) avocado flesh, with a four-week ripening period between the two samples. The results show that extracting with subcritical water at 105 &deg, C provides the highest phenolic compounds yields of 0.11% and 0.26% by dried mass for week one and ripe fruit (week four), respectively. The experimental results also indicate that the implementation of lower extraction temperatures on week four avocado (i.e., following the selection of week one avocados and allowing them to ripen over a period of one month) enhances the phenolic compounds extraction yields by more than four times relative to the first week&rsquo, s sample extract, specifically during the first 20 min of extraction.

Manganese is a widely used element in the steel industry, its main source is a mineral named rhodochrosite (MnCO3). For industrial usage, rhodochrosite is reduced to different manganese oxides by means of nodulation furnaces. In this study, rhodochrosite was thermally analyzed at temperatures ranging from 100 &deg, C to 1200 &deg, C. XRD (Powder X-ray diffraction), XRF (X-ray fluorescence), AAS (Atomic Absorption Spectrometry), and FESEM-EDX (Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy-Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectrometry) were used to characterize the mineral and the residues were analyzed by XRD and FTIR (Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy) to determine the stoichiometry of the thermal decomposition reactions. Three mass losses were observed, the first attributed to the transformation from carbonate to manganese (III) oxide, the second to the reduction to manganese tetroxide, and the third to the decomposition of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) present as a contaminant in the studied mineral. Thermal decomposition kinetics shows that the first mass loss required 17.91 kJ mol&minus, 1, indicating a control by mass transport-controlled process. For the second and third mass loss, the apparent activation energy of 112.41 kJ mol&minus, 1 and 64.69 kJ mol&minus, 1 was obtained respectively, indicating that both mass loss events were rate-controlled.

We report a novel strategy for the synthesis of magnetic nano-platforms containing free thiol groups. It first involves the synthesis of a poly(acrylic acid) copolymer containing disulfide bridges between the linear chains through di-ester linkages, followed by the anchoring of this new ligand to magnetite nanoparticles using a ligand exchange reaction. Finally, free SH groups are obtained by treating the resulting disulfide-functionalized magnetic nano-system with tributyl phosphine as reducing agent. The characterization of the resulting 17 nm nanoparticles (Fe 3 O 4 @PAA-HEDred) by FTIR and TGA confirms the attachment of the copolymer through iron carboxylates. XRD, TEM and magnetic measurements indicate an increase in the inorganic core diameter and the occurrence of strong magnetic inter-particle interactions during the exchange reaction, although coercitivity and remanence drop to near zero at room temperature. Afterwards, Fe 3 O 4 @PAA-HEDred nanoparticles were tested as sorbent for Pb 2+ and Cd 2+ cations in aqueous media. XPS measurements were performed in order to unravel the role of both carboxyl and thiol functions in the adsorption process. For the sake of comparison, the same study was performed using bare Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles and a nanosystem with disulfide groups (Fe 3 O 4 @DMSA). The joint analysis of the Pb 4f, Cd 3d, Fe 2p and S 2p high resolution spectra for the nanostructured materials indicates that metal-sulfur interactions are dominant if free SH groups are present, but if not, the main adsorption route entails metal-carboxyl interactions. Even in presence of unbound thiol moieties, carboxyl groups participate due to favoured steric availability.

This work seeks to study the potential effectiveness of the Blind Signal Extraction (BSE) as a pre-processing tool for the detection of distributed faults in rolling bearings. In the literature, most of the authors focus their attention on the detection of incipient localized defects. In that case, classical techniques (i.e. envelope analysis) are robust in recognizing the presence of the fault and its characteristic frequency. However, when the fault grows, the classical approach fails, due to the change of the fault signature. De facto, in this case the signal does not contain impulses at the fault characteristic frequency, but more complex components with strong non-stationary contents. Moreover, signals acquired from complex machines often contain contributions from several different components as well as noise; thus the fault signature can be hidden in the complex system vibration. Therefore, pre-processing tools are needed in order to extract the bearing signature, from the raw system vibration. In this paper the authors focalize their attention on the application of the BSE in order to extract the bearing signature from the raw vibration of mechanical systems. The effectiveness and sensitivity of BSE is here exploited on the basis of both simulated and real signals. Among different procedures for the BSE computation, the Reduced-Rank Cyclic Regression algorithm (RRCR) is used. Firstly a simulated signal including the effect of gear meshing as well as a localized fault in bearings is introduced in order to tune the parameters of the RRCR. Next, two different real cases are considered, a bearing test-rig as an example of simple machine and a gearbox test-rig as an example of complex machine. In both examples, the bearings were degreased in order to accelerate the wear process. The BSE is compared with the usual pre-processing technique for the analysis of cyclostationary signals, i.e. the extraction of the residual signal. The fault detection is carried out by the computation of the Integrated Cyclic Modulation Spectrum on the extracted signals. The results indicate that the extracted signals via BSE clearly highlight the distributed fault signature, in particular both the appearance of the faults as well as their development are detected, whilst noise still hides fault grow in the residual signals.

Oxysterols are cholesterol oxygenated derivatives which possess several biological actions. Among oxysterols, 7-ketocholesterol (7KC) is known to induce cell death. Here, we hypothesized that 7KC cytotoxicity could be applied in cancer therapeutics. 7KC was incorporated into a lipid core nanoemulsion. As a cellular model the murine melanoma cell line B16F10 was used. The nanoparticle (7KCLDE) uptake into tumor cells was displaced by increasing amounts of low-density-lipoproteins (LDL) suggesting a LDL-receptor-mediated cell internalization. 7KCLDE was mainly cytostatic, which led to an accumulation of polyploid cells. Nevertheless, a single dose of 7KCLDE killed roughly 10% of melanoma cells. In addition, it was observed dissipation of the transmembrane potential, evidenced with flow cytometry; presence of autophagic vacuoles, visualized and quantified with flow cytometry and acridine orange; and presence of myelin figures, observed with ultrastructural microscopy. 7KCLDE impaired cytokenesis was accompanied by changes in cellular morphology into a fibroblastoid shape which is supported by cytoskeletal rearrangements, as shown by the increased actin polymerization. 7KCLDE was injected into B16 melanoma tumor-bearing mice. 7KCLDE accumulated in the liver and tumor. In melanoma tumor 7KCLDE promoted a >50% size reduction, enlarged the necrotic area, and reduced intratumoral vasculature. 7KCLDE increased the survival rates of animals, without hematologic or liver toxicity. Although more pre-clinical studies should be performed, our preliminary results suggested that 7KCLDE is a promising novel preparation for cancer chemotherapy.

Chemical and mineralogical characterization of a sulphide ore from the mining district of Zimapan, Hidalgo, Mexico, was performed in order to obtain accurate information on the composition of the ore to optimize the subsequent flotation process. A combination of techniques was used: Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) with Energy Dispersive Spectrometer (EDS), X-ray diffractometry (XRD), Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The SEM mapping confirmed the presence of the elements: Ca, Si, Fe, K, S, Al, Zn, Mg and Mn. The XRD analysis suggests that the ore matrix is calcite; additional species found were wollastonite, johannsenite, and pyrite, among other impurities. The FTIR analysis performed for the aqua regia insoluble showed the presence of calcium oxide, copper oxide and silicon oxide. The results for the ICP analysis were:13.31% S, 2.55% Fe, 0.46% Zn, 0.03% Cu, 0.06% Pb, 0.07% Mn, 0.09% As, 0.01% Sb and 0.08 grton-1 Ag.

Metallic elements of higher economic value occurring in the mineralogy of Zimapán are Pb, Zn, Cu and Fe, said elements are sold as concentrates, which, even after processing, generally include significant concentrations of Mo, Cd, Sb, Ag and As that could recover through different leaching methods. In this work the influence of temperature was studied in the complexation of silver in the S2O32--O2 system. Chemical and mineralogical characterization of concentrated Zn from the state of Hidalgo confirmed the presence of the silver contained in a sulfide of silver arsenic (AgAsS2) through the techniques of Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry (AAS), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscopy-Energy-Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (SEM-EDS). The mineralogical species identified allowed the construction mineralogical species Pourbaix diagrams in the range of 298 K to 333 K, through which the Eh-pH conditions to obtain silver in solution were determined. The formation of Ag(S2O3)23- complex was confirmed by characterizing liquors leached using the technique Infrared Spectroscopy Fourier Transform (FTIR).

Arsenic, an element of environmental impact, can be incorporated into jarosite–type compounds and remain stabilised within the structure under a wide range of environmental conditions. In this study, a sample of ammonium–arsenic jarosite was synthesised by precipitation in sulphate medium at controlled pH of 1.2–1.8. The behaviour of arsenic during the thermal and chemical decomposition of jarosite was analysed; the degradation in alkaline medium of jarosite was also studied. According to the results, the synthesised jarosite is composed of joined rhombohedral crystals, forming tightly spherical shaped particles, 37–54 μm size. The ammonium jarosite produced possessed a high arsenic concentration; its calculated stoichiometry being (NH4)Fe2.45[(SO4)1.80(AsO4)0.20][(OH)4.15(H20)1.85]. It was found that arsenic is stabilised in the jarosite structure; upon heating, it remains in residual solids above 700°C, whilst in alkaline medium an incongruent dissolution takes place, with the arsenic retained in the solid phase along with iron. These solids, when exposed to high temperatures (1200°C), transform into a type of iron oxide known as hematite, so with arsenic it is retained an iron compound forming a stable compound which withstands high temperatures.

The presence of natural and industrial jarosite type-compounds in the environment could have important implications in the mobility of potentially toxic elements such as lead, mercury, arsenic, chromium, among others. Understanding the dissolution reactions of jarosite-type compounds is notably important for an environmental assessment (for water and soil), since some of these elements could either return to the environment or work as temporary deposits of these species, thus would reduce their immediate environmental impact. This work reports the effects of temperature, pH, particle diameter and Cr(VI) content on the initial dissolution rates of K-Cr(VI)-jarosites (KFe3[(SO4)2 − X(CrO4)X](OH)6). Temperature (T) was the variable with the strongest effect, followed by pH in acid/alkaline medium (H3O+/OH−). It was found that the substitution of CrO4 2−in Y-site and the substitution of H3O+ in M-site do not modify the dissolution rates. The model that describes the dissolution process is the unreacted core kinetic model, with the chemical reaction on the unreacted core surface. The dissolution in acid medium was congruent, while in alkaline media was incongruent. In both reaction media, there is a release of K+, SO4 2− and CrO4 2− from the KFe3[(SO4)2 − X(CrO4)X](OH)6 structure, although the latter is rapidly absorbed by the solid residues of Fe(OH)3 in alkaline medium dissolutions. The dissolution of KFe3[(SO4)2 − X(CrO4)X](OH)6 exhibited good stability in a wide range of pH and T conditions corresponding to the calculated parameters of reaction order n, activation energy E A and dissolution rate constants for each kinetic stages of induction and progressive conversion. The kinetic analysis related to the reaction orders and calculated activation energies confirmed that extreme pH and T conditions are necessary to obtain considerably high dissolution rates. Extreme pH conditions (acidic or alkaline) cause the preferential release of K+, SO4 2− and CrO4 2− from the KFe3[(SO4)2 − X(CrO4)X](OH)6 structure, although CrO4 2− is quickly adsorbed by Fe(OH)3 solid residues. The precipitation of phases such as KFe3[(SO4)2 − X(CrO4)X](OH)6, and the absorption of Cr(VI) after dissolution can play an important role as retention mechanisms of Cr(VI) in nature.

Highly virulent pantropic canine coronavirus (CCoV) strains belonging to subtype IIa were recently identified in dogs. To assess the distribution of such strains in Europe, tissue samples were collected from 354 dogs that had died after displaying systemic disease in France ( n = 92), Hungary ( n = 75), Italy ( n = 69), Greece ( n = 87), The Netherlands ( n = 27), Belgium ( n = 4), and Bulgaria ( n = 1). A total of 124 animals tested positive for CCoV, with 33 of them displaying the virus in extraintestinal tissues. Twenty-four CCoV strains (19.35% of the CCoV-positive dogs) detected in internal organs were characterized as subtype IIa and consequently assumed to be pantropic CCoVs. Sequence and phylogenetic analyses of the 5′ end of the spike protein gene showed that pantropic CCoV strains are closely related to each other, with the exception of two divergent French viruses that clustered with enteric strains.

Powder fluxes perform several key functions in the continuous casting of steel slabs, both at the surface steel product and in the control of the heat transfer during the process. The mineralogical constitution and the melting solidification behaviour of several commercial fluxes were determined to establish design parameters for the production of powder fluxes used in the continuous casting of steel slabs. The characterisation of the commercial fluxes showed that they are produced simply by mechanical mixing of base materials such as feldspars and clays. It was found that their melting behaviour depends on its chemical composition, mineralogical species contents and particle size; in particular, a change in the fluidising effect of CaF2 was observed when the species content is >12%. Therefore, flux powders that fulfil the thermal requirements for the production of low carbon and medium carbon steels were produced from minerals available in the local market.

Melting-solidification tests on continuous casting commercial mould flux glasses for low carbon (0.015–0.06% C) and medium carbon steels (0.07–0.1% C) revealed the existence of abundant mineralogical phases formed during the flux solidification; some important mineralogical species were identified by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD). Among the most important species found are the cuspidine (Ca4Si2O7F2) and nepheline (NaAlSiO4). These species directly influence the heat transfer phenomena from the strand to the mould. The thermodynamic software FACTWIN was used to predict the phases formed in the fluxes considering both the chemical composition and the experimental melting temperature of the mould flux. A change in the fluidizing effect of CaF2 was observed when the species content is higher than 12%. The phases predicted with the thermodynamic software are in agreement with those identified by XRD. It was found that cuspidine is desirable only in fluxes to produce medium carbon (included peritectic grade) steels, because it reduces the heat flux from the strand to the mould, thus controlling the shrinkage rate during the flux solidification. Liquid fluxes are required to produce low carbon steels, therefore the formation of the nepheline phase is desirable since it melts at low temperature (1073 K).

© 2015 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved.Primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) is a classical autoimmune liver disease for which effective immunomodulatory therapy is lacking. Here we perform meta-analyses of discovery data sets from genome-wide association studies of European subjects (n=2,764 cases and 10,475 controls) followed by validation genotyping in an independent cohort (n=3,716 cases and 4,261 controls). We discover and validate six previously unknown risk loci for PBC (Pcombined

In this work, a kinetic analysis of the decomposition process of a solid solution of ammonium and sodium jarosite with arsenic incorporated into its structure in NaOH medium is presented. Atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS), inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES), elemental analysis and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were used for the characterization of the solid solution and the decomposition products. According to the results, the approximate stoichiometry of the jarosite synthesized is as follows: [(NH4)0.72Na0.06(H3O)0.21]Fe3 2.52(SO4)1.85(AsO4)0.15[(OH)4.41(H2O)1.59].

Mixtures of ZnO, Sb2O3 and Bi2O3 powders corresponding to the stoichiometric compositions of Zn7Sb2O12 (spinel) and Zn2Bi3Sb3O14 (pyrochlore) were milled in a shaker mill (SPEX) up to 180 minutes. The influence of the mechanical activation of the powders, as a result of the milling, was determined by Differential Thermal Analysis, Thermogravimetric Analysis and X-ray Diffraction. Additionally, in order to compare to commercial recipes the mixture ZnO + 2.7 wt% Sb2O3 + 4.5 wt% Bi2O3 was milled in a shaker mill up to 180 minutes. Varistor devices were fabricated with both milled and unmilled mixtures. The devices were characterized by I-V studies, Scanning Electron Microscopy and X-ray Diffraction. Mechanical activation on the system ZnO-Bi2O3-Sb2O3 produced a chemical reaction and amorphization in the powder mixture. The weight loss due to volatilization of Bi2O3 and Sb2O3 that occurrs in both ZnO-Sb2O3 and ZnO-Sb2O3-Bi2O3 systems at temperatures below 1200∘C is reduced by milling the powder mixtures.

The metal carboxylate complexes present in the organic solutions used in the hydrolytic stripping process strongly affect the nature of the solid precipitated; in some cases, the product is a mixed oxide while in others, a mixture of single-metal oxides is obtained. Infrared (IR) spectroscopy is a useful tool for determining the speciation of metal loaded organic phases. In the previous work, relationships of the form [V-10]=αAνM+βAνD were obtained for the estimation of the free Versatic acid present in metal carboxylate solutions at given specific temperatures. In this work, infrared spectroscopy has been used for the speciation of single-metal Versatic 10™ solutions containing Fe(III), Zn and Ni at temperatures between 20 and 200 °C. It was found that iron and zinc predominantly form complexes with bidentate structures at all the concentration levels tested, while the nickel complexes contain bidentate ligands at low concentrations and both monodentate and bidentate ligands at high concentrations. The evidence found in this work supports the existence of a binuclear ferric Versatic complex, [Fe(OH)V2]2, with chelating Versatic groups forming an octahedron around each of the iron atoms. An oxo-centred structure, containing only bridging carboxylate groups, is proposed for the zinc Versatic complex, which is believed to be present in the organic medium as Zn4O(V)6.

Pulsed signals and wide bandwidth antennas are of increasing use for radar and communication applications, thus implying the necessity of characterizing an antenna over large bandwidths, i.e., for arbitrary time varying signal (time domain). Although in the last years more and more effective sampling field representations over canonical scanning surfaces have been develop ed for harmonic fields, only recently a sampling representation for time varying fields has been introduced. In this paper a new sampling series for time varying fields over a plane is presented for a plane-polar scanning geometry. The advantages and the effectiveness of the frequency domain sampling representations are shared by the presented time domain sampling series.

Reconfigurable antennas, able to radiate more than one pattern, are often necessary in the modern telecommunication systems. In the case of array antennas, phase-only control of the beam reconfiguration has a significant relevance in the attainment of greater simplicity of the beam forming network. Furthermore, in many applications the geometry of the antenna is dictated by the particular application in question so that a conformal array is required. Previously, a new technique for the synthesis of (non-reconfigurable) conformal arrays, based on the determination of the intersection between two suitably defined sets, has been presented in the three dimensional and fully vectorial case [Bucci et al. 1995]. In this communication a generalization of this technique is presented in order to face the problem of the synthesis of reconfigurable conformal arrays with phase-only control. In particular the presented approach allows to find, in an optimal way, the amplitude of the excitation coefficients common to all beams and the phases of such excitations corresponding to each radiated beam.

Since its discovery in the first half of the twentieth century, the high-affinity, noncovalent interaction between biotin (vitamin H) and the avian protein avidin (and its bacterial homologs) has been exploited for many diverse biotechnology applications. This unit provides several basic protocols for labeling various protein reactive groups with biotin. These protocols can be applied not only to labeling in vitro or in tissue culture, but also to in vivo labeling of whole laboratory animals or to ex vivo labeling of surgically resected organs.

Recent studies on normal and malignant B-cells have provided evidence that the germinal center (GC) of lymphoid follicles exerts a role in B-cell physiology and malignancy. GC-derived lymphomas include both B-cell and T-cell lymphomas. Remarkably, tumor cells of GC-derived lymphomas proliferate in close association with cellular environment that retains key features of normal GC cellular microenvironment. Neoplastic follicles in follicular lymphoma contain, in addition to follicular dendritic cells (FDC) other non-neoplastic cells including macrophages and GC T-cells. In addition to aggregates of FDCs, the background infiltrate of nodular lymphocyte predominant Hodgkin lymphoma includes small B-cells, T-cells, and histiocytes. Typically, most of the lymphocyte predominant (LP) cells are ringed by CD3+/CD4+ T-cells expressing CD57, PD1, BCL6, and MUM1/IRF4. By contrast, Reed-Sternberg cells of classic Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) are surrounded by CD3+/CD4+ T-cells expressing CD40L. Unlike cHL and other peripheral T-cell lymphomas, the AITL microenvironment characteristically contain a prominent proliferation of high endothelial venules and FDC. Thus, these findings shed new light on the characterization of GC-derived lymphomas and may help in the differential diagnosis and acknowledge several novel pathogenetic mechanisms on these lymphomas.

The human lymph node is a complex tissue resulting from the microenvironmental organisation of different cell populations linked by topographical and/or functional relationships. Germinal centres (GCs) of lymphoid follicles contain a meshwork of follicular dendritic cells in addition to B-cells and some CD4(+) T cells. Moreover, there is a sharp demarcation around the whole follicle centre, which is highlighted by fibroblastic reticulum cells. On the whole, GC exerts a role in B cell physiology and malignancy. In GC-derived lymphomas, gene expression profiling studies have raised the possibility that survival of the affected patients may be associated with signatures preferentially expressed in non-malignant T cells and macrophages and/or dendritic cells. Immunohistological analyses in lymphoma biopsy samples have confirmed that the biological behaviour and tumour progression may be influenced by the tumour microenvironment. This review will examine GC-derived lymphomas, including follicular lymphomas, Hodgkin lymphomas and angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, through their integrated cellular microenvironment, highlighting those findings which may serve as a useful surrogate marker for tumour diagnosis or tumour progression, together with key molecules involved in tumour development.

Protein distribution patterns across eye lenses from the Asiatic toad Bufo gargarizans were investigated and individual crystallin classes characterised. Special fractionation that follows the growth mode of the lens was used to yield nine fractions corresponding to layers laid down at different chronological (developmental) stages. Proportions of soluble and insoluble crystallins within each fraction were measured by Bradford assay. Water-soluble proteins in all fractions were separated by size-exclusion HPLC and constituents of each class further characterised by electrophoresis, RP-HPLC and MS analysis. In outer lens layers, alpha-crystallin is the most abundant soluble protein but is not found in soluble proteins in the lens centre. Water-soluble beta-crystallins also decrease from their highest level in the outer lens to negligible mounts in the central lens. The proportion of soluble gamma-crystallin increases significantly towards the lens centre where this is the only soluble protein present. Insoluble protein levels increase significantly towards the lens centre. In B. gargarizans lenses, as with other anurans, the predominant water-soluble protein class is gamma-crystallin. No taxon-specific crystallins were found. The relationship between the protein distribution patterns and the functional properties of the lens this species is discussed.