Harmful Algal Blooms involving the dinoflagellate Alexandrium pacificum continue to increase in ecosystems suffering the climate warming and anthropogenic pressure. Changes in the total proteome and physiological traits of the Mediterranean A. pacificum SG C10-3 strain were measured in response to increasing temperature (24 °C, 27 °C, 30 °C) and trace metal contamination (Cu, Pb, Zn, Cd).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTurbulence is one of the least investigated environmental factors impacting the ecophysiology of phytoplankton, both at the community and individual species level. Here, we investigated, for the first time, the effect of a turbulence gradient (Reynolds number, from Reλ = 0 to Reλ = 360) on two species of the marine diatom Pseudo-nitzschia and their associated bacterial communities under laboratory conditions. Cell abundance, domoic acid (DA) production, chain formation, and Chl a content of P.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe presence of microcystins (MCs) is increasingly being reported in coastal areas worldwide. To provide reliable data regarding this emerging concern, reproducible and accurate methods are required to quantify MCs in salt-containing samples. Herein, we characterized methods of extraction and analysis by liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) for nine MCs and one nodularin (NOD) variants in both cyanobacteria (intracellular) and dissolved forms (extracellular).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn this paper, we determine the magnetic moment induced in graphene when grown on a cobalt film using polarised neutron reflectivity (PNR). A magnetic signal in the graphene was detected by X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) spectra at the C -edge. From the XMCD sum rules an estimated magnetic moment of 0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFACS Appl Mater Interfaces
October 2023
Surface-tethered polymers have been shown to be an efficient lubrication strategy for boundary and mixed lubrication by providing a solvated film between solid surfaces. We have assessed the performance of various graft copolymers as friction modifier additives in oil and revealed important structure-property relationships for this application. The polymers consisted of an oil-soluble, grafted poly(lauryl acrylate) segment and a polar, linear poly(4-acryloylmorpholine) anchor group.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMachine learning provides many powerful and effective techniques for analysing heterogeneous electronic health records (EHR). Administrative Health Records (AHR) are a subset of EHR collected for administrative purposes, and the use of machine learning on AHRs is a growing subfield of EHR analytics. Existing reviews of EHR analytics emphasise that the data-modality of the EHR limits the breadth of suitable machine learning techniques, and pursuable healthcare applications.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe report the magnitude of the induced magnetic moment in CVD-grown epitaxial and rotated-domain graphene in proximity with a ferromagnetic Ni film, using polarized neutron reflectivity (PNR) and X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD). The XMCD spectra at the C -edge confirm the presence of a magnetic signal in the graphene layer, and the sum rules give a magnetic moment of up to ∼0.47 μ/C atom induced in the graphene layer.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProstaglandins Other Lipid Mediat
August 2023
This literature review compared the efficacy in of NSAIDs with a placebo in pain relief and disease regression of endometriosis. Despite the poor evidence found, the results showed that NSAIDs were more effective in pain relief with regressive effects on the endometriotic lesions compared to placebo. We postulate herein that COX-2 is chiefly responsible for pain whilst COX-1 is responsible mainly for the establishment of endometriotic lesions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAs a result of the availability of modern software and hardware, Bayesian analysis is becoming more popular in neutron and X-ray reflectometry analysis. The understandability and replicability of these analyses may be harmed by inconsistencies in how the probability distributions central to Bayesian methods are represented in the literature. Herein advice is provided on how to report the results of Bayesian analysis as applied to neutron and X-ray reflectometry.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThose who gamble compulsively, and those who shop or buy in a compulsive manner share a number of common characteristics, stemming from similar impulse-control issues. As such, it is predicted that a lexical analysis of personal narratives of compulsion would share similarities. Using secondary data from an online mental health forum, Psychforums, the research analyzed narratives of compulsive gambling ( = 199) and compulsive buying ( = 196) using the automated text analysis tool, LIWC.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe effect of the stacking sequence on magnetic and superconducting properties in LaSrMnO (LSMO)/YBaCuO (YBCO) and LSMO/SrTiO/YBCO heterostructures, which consequently affected the magnetic proximity effect (MPE), was investigated using spin-polarized neutron reflectivity experiments. The results established the intrinsic nature of MPE and its correlation with stacking sequence-dependent magnetic and superconducting properties in these oxide heterostructure systems. We found an increase in the superconducting transition temperature () and magnetization for both of the heterostructures as compared to heterostructures with a reversed stacking order.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTuberculosis (TB) incidence should decline by 20% in the Europe in 2015-2020, in line with End-TB milestones. We retrospectively evaluated TB notifications in the province of Brescia from 2004 to 2020. Cases were classified per patient origin and entitlement to Health Assistance for foreign born people: Italians (ITA), Foreigners permanently entitled (PEF) or Temporarily Entitled (TEF) to Health Regional Assistance.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHABs involving Alexandrium pacificum have been reported in metal-contaminated ecosystems, suggesting that this distributed species adapts to and/or can tolerate the effects of metals. Modifications in soluble proteomes and PST contents were characterized in two Mediterranean A. pacificum strains exposed to mono- or polymetallic stresses (zinc, lead, copper, cadmium).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe elastic modulus and hydrophilicity of cross-linked poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) are tunable via cross-linker concentration and the addition of a simple surfactant, CE, before curing. However, the surfactant concentration, [CE], reduces the elastic modulus (73% lower for 6.3% w/w) because it reduces the extent of curing.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRestoration of degraded drylands is urgently needed to mitigate climate change, reverse desertification and secure livelihoods for the two billion people who live in these areas. Bold global targets have been set for dryland restoration to restore millions of hectares of degraded land. These targets have been questioned as overly ambitious, but without a global evaluation of successes and failures it is impossible to gauge feasibility.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDue to anthropogenic activities, associated with climate change, many freshwater ecosystems are expected to experience an increase in salinity. This phenomenon is predicted to favor the development and expansion of freshwater cyanobacteria towards brackish waters due to their transfer along the estuarine freshwater-marine continuum. Since freshwater cyanobacteria are known to produce toxins, this represents a serious threat for animal and human health.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAll-oxide-based synthetic antiferromagnets (SAFs) are attracting intense research interest due to their superior tunability and great potentials for antiferromagnetic spintronic devices. In this work, using the LaCaMnO/CaRuTiO (LCMO/CRTO) superlattice as a model SAF, we investigated the layer-resolved magnetic reversal mechanism by polarized neutron reflectivity. We found that the reversal of LCMO layer moments is mediated by nucleation, expansion, and shrinkage of a magnetic soliton.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFParalytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) is a human foodborne syndrome caused by the consumption of shellfish that accumulate paralytic shellfish toxins (PSTs, saxitoxin group). In PST-producing dinoflagellates such as spp., toxin synthesis is encoded in the nuclear genome via a gene cluster ().
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe describe a bottom-up surface functionalization to design hybrid molecular coatings that tether biomembranes using wet chemistry. First, a monolayer was formed by immersion in a NH-Ar-SOH solution, allowing aryldiazonium salt radicals to spontaneously bind to it via strong C bonding. After formation of the air-stable and dense molecular monolayer (-Ar-SOH), a subsequent activation was used to form highly reactive -Ar-SOCl groups nearly perpendicular to the monolayer.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a common skin disease characterized by recurrent pruritic inflammatory skin lesions and defects of the skin barrier. Bacterial infection with Staphylococcus aureus contributes to increased severity of AD by compromising the barrier further. A microorganism component of Avène Thermal Spring Water, Aquaphilus dolomiae, is thought to contribute to some of its beneficial effects to skin, eg AD alleviation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol
August 2020
Background: A biological concentrate was produced from cultures of an Avène aquatic microflora isolate, namely Aquaphilus dolomiae. Some of the beneficial effects on diseased and damaged skin are thought to be due to the presence of this microorganism.
Aims: An extract of A.