The water produced (PW) by the petroleum industry is a potential contaminant to aquatic biota, due to its complex mixture that may contain polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), organic chemical ...compounds, including benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene (BTEX), metals and other components that are known to be toxic. The aim of this investigation was to examine the acute toxicity produced by a PW sample in aquatic organisms Vibrio fischeri and Daphnia similis prior to and after 4 treatments using advanced oxidative processes such as photocatalysis, photoelectrocatalysis, ozonation and photoelectrocatalytic ozonation. Data demonstrated that exposure to PW was toxic to both organisms, as evidenced by reduced luminescence in bacterium Vibrio fischeri and induced immobility in Daphnia similis. After treatment of PW with 4 different techniques, the PW remained toxic for both tested organisms. However, photoelectrocatalysis was more efficient in decreasing toxicity attributed to PW sample. Therefore, data demonstrate the importance of treating PW for later disposal in the environment in order to mitigate ecotoxicological impacts. Further photoelectrocatalysis appeared to be a promising tool for treating PW samples prior to disposal and exposure of aquatic ecosystems.
This paper proposes a methodology for the active and reactive power flow control, applied to a grid-tie three-phase power inverter, considering local and/or regionalized power flow control necessity ...in the forthcoming distributed generation scenario. The controllers are designed by means of robust pole placement technique, which is determined using the Linear Matrix Inequalities with D-stability criteria. The linearized models used in the control design are obtained by means of feedback linearization, aiming to reduce system nonlinearities, improve the controller's performance and mitigate potential disturbances. Through multi-loop control, the power loop uses active and reactive power transfer adapted expressions to obtain the magnitude of the voltage and power transfer angle to control the power flow between the distributed generation and the utility grid. The methodology main idea is to obtain the best controllers with the lowest gains as possible placing the poles in the left-half s-plane region, resulting in fast responses with reduced oscillations. In order to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposal a 3 kVA three-phase prototype was implemented and a comparison with conventional controller is performed to demonstrate the proposed methodology performance. In addition, anti-islanding detection and protection against over/under voltage and frequency deviations are demonstrated through experimental results.
•This paper proposes the active and reactive power flow control of three-phase grid-tie inverter.•The control technique is designed by means of nonlinear control technique.•The controllers are determined by means of LMI constraints with D-stability criteria.•The proposed control is experimentally demonstrated through a three-phase prototype.
Pseudobrickellia brasiliensis (Asteraceae) is a plant commonly known as arnica-do-campo and belongs to the native flora of the Brazilian Cerrado. The alcoholic extract of the plant has been used as ...an anti-inflammatory agent in folk medicine, but the biological mechanism of action has not been elucidated. The present study evaluated the composition of P. brasiliensis aqueous extract and its effects on pro-inflammatory cytokine production and lymphocyte proliferation. The extracts were prepared by sequential maceration of P. brasiliensis leaves in ethanol, ethyl acetate, and water. Extract cytotoxicity was evaluated by trypan blue exclusion assay, and apoptosis and necrosis were measured by staining with annexin V-FITC and propidium iodide. The ethanolic (ETA) and acetate (ACE) extracts showed cytotoxic effects. The aqueous extract (AQU) was not cytotoxic. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells stimulated with phorbol myristate acetate and ionomycin and treated with AQU (100 μg/mL) showed reduced interferon (IFN)-γ and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α expression. AQU also inhibited lymphocyte proliferative response after nonspecific stimulation with phytohemagglutinin. The aqueous extract was analyzed by liquid chromatography coupled with photodiode array detection and mass spectrometry. Quinic acid and its derivatives 5-caffeoylquinic acid and 3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid, as well as the flavonoids luteolin and luteolin dihexoside, were detected. All these compounds are known to exhibit anti-inflammatory activity. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that P. brasiliensis aqueous extract can inhibit the pro-inflammatory cytokine production and proliferative response of lymphocytes. These effects may be related to the presence of chemical substances with anti-inflammatory actions previously reported in scientific literature.
Summary
The disturbed cytokine–chemokine network could play an important role in the onset of diseases with inflammatory processes such as chronic idiopathic urticaria (CIU). Our main objectives were ...to evaluate the relation between proinflammatory chemokine serum levels from CIU patients and their response to autologous skin test (ASST) and basophil histamine release (BHR). We also aimed to assess the chemokine secretion by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) upon polyclonal stimulus and to evaluate chemokine C–C ligand 2/C‐X‐C chemokine 8 (CCL2/CXCL8) and Toll‐like receptor‐4 (TLR‐4) expression in monocytes. We observed significantly higher serum levels of the CXCL8, CXCL9, CXCL10 and CCL2 in CIU patients compared to the healthy group, regardless of the BHR or ASST response. The basal secretion of CCL2 by PBMC or induced by Staphylococcus aureus enterotoxin A (SEA) was higher in CIU patients than in the control group, as well as for CXCL8 and CCL5 secretions upon phytohaemagglutinin stimulation. Also, up‐regulation of CCL2 and CXCL8 mRNA expression was found in monocytes of patients upon SEA stimulation. The findings showed a high responsiveness of monocytes through CCL2/CXCL8 expression, contributing to the creation of a proinflammatory environment in CIU.
Modified mRNA vaccines have developed into an effective and well-tolerated vaccine platform that offers scalable and precise antigen production. Nevertheless, the immunological events leading to ...strong antibody responses elicited by mRNA vaccines are largely unknown. In this study, we demonstrate that protective levels of antibodies to hemagglutinin were induced after two immunizations of modified non-replicating mRNA encoding influenza H10 encapsulated in lipid nanoparticles (LNP) in non-human primates. While both intradermal (ID) and intramuscular (IM) administration induced protective titers, ID delivery generated this response more rapidly. Circulating H10-specific memory B cells expanded after each immunization, along with a transient appearance of plasmablasts. The memory B cell pool waned over time but remained detectable throughout the 25-week study. Following prime immunization, H10-specific plasma cells were found in the bone marrow and persisted over time. Germinal centers were formed in vaccine-draining lymph nodes along with an increase in circulating H10-specific ICOS+ PD-1+ CXCR3+ T follicular helper cells, a population shown to correlate with high avidity antibody responses after seasonal influenza vaccination in humans. Collectively, this study demonstrates that mRNA/LNP vaccines potently induce an immunological repertoire associated with the generation of high magnitude and quality antibodies.
Abstract This study aims to evaluate the in silico genomic characteristics of Streptococcus infantarius subsp. infantarius, isolated from Coalho cheese from Paraíba, Brazil, with a view to ...application in lactic fermentations. rRNA sequences from the 16S ribosomal region were used as input to GenBank, in the search for patterns that could reveal a non-pathogenic behavior of S. infantarius subsp. infantarius, comparing mobile genetic elements, antibiotic resistance genes, pan-genome analysis and multi-genome alignment among related species. S. infantarius subsp. infantarius CJ18 was the only complete genome reported by BLAST/NCBI with high similarity and after comparative genetics with complete genomes of Streptococcus agalactiae (SAG153, NJ1606) and Streptococcus thermophilus (ST106, CS18, IDCC2201, APC151) revealed that CJ18 showed a low number of transposases and integrases, infection by phage bacteria of the Streptococcus genus, absence of antibiotic resistance genes and presence of bacteriocin, folate and riboflavin producing genes. The genome alignment revealed that the collinear blocks of S. thermophilus ST106 and S. agalactiae SAG153 have inverted blocks when compared to the CJ18 genome due to gene positioning, insertions and deletions. Therefore, the strains of S. infantarius subsp. infantarius isolated from Coalho cheese from Paraíba showed genomic similarity with CJ18 and the mobility of genes analyzed in silico showed absence of pathogenicity throughout the genome of CJ18, indicating the potential of these strains for the dairy industry.
Self-supported oligo-layered ZnAlEu LDH nanotubes (∅ 20 nm) self-assemble upon controlled hydrolysis of the metal ions (Zn
, Al
, Eu
) in the presence of 1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylate anions and ...non-ionic worm-like micelles. Their high surface area and easily accessible cylindrical mesopores (175 m
g
; 0.75 cm
g
) facilitate interaction with 5 nm CdTe quantum dots, enhancing the overall luminescence behavior.
The aim of this study was to develop biodegradable films using fruit and vegetable residue (FVR) flour with different granulometry range and pectin levels. The FVR flour was divided in three ...fractions, according to their granulometric distribution: A (425–500 μm), B (212–300 μm) and C (<150 μm). FVR presented heterogeneous particle size distribution and fibrous structure showing granular compounds adhered to the surface. The fiber contents decreased according to granulometry, whereas the protein content increased. The films obtained from FVR were malleable, homogeneous, yellowish, and presented high solubility (90%). The granulometry reduction and the pectin addition have significantly improved the viscosity and the yellow color of the film solutions (FS). There was decrease of solubility (50%) and improvement of the mechanical properties of the pectin-based films: decrease of elongation (16–30%) and increase of tensile strength (2.88 ± 0.79 MPa). The sorption isotherms of the pectin-FVR films evidenced the lower availability of polar groups able to work as water-sorption sites. Therefore, different residue fractions could have different applications depending on their particle size and composition, either as source of dietary fibers (the thickest fractions) or as raw material for film production.
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•Biodegradable films were obtained using fruit and vegetable residue (FVR) flour.•The reduced flour particle size and the pectin addition improved film properties.•Pectin-FVR films have lower availability of polar groups as water-sorption sites.•FVR can be use as source of dietary fibers or as raw material for film production.
This study reports on the performance of electrospun hyperbranched polyglycerol nanofibers capable of providing an active agent delivery for wound dressing applications. The aim of this work was to ...prepare electrospun HPGL nanofibers containing
Calendula officinalis as a wound-healing and anti-inflammatory agent. The morphology of the electrospun HPGL–
C. officinalis nanofibers was analyzed using a
scanning electron microscope. The results showed that the diameters of the fibers were in nanoscales. The release of
C. officinalis from the electrospun HPGL fibers was determined by HPLC at a physiological temperature (37
°C). Rapid release of the
C. officinalis from the electrospun HPGL–
C. officinalis nanofibers was exhibited as result of the high swelling ability as well as the high porosity of the electrospun HPGL–
C. officinalis membranes. The degree of swelling, and the mechanical and biocompatible properties of the electrospun HPGL fibers were determined. The results showed that, in physiological conditions, the water absorption into the HPGL electrospun fibers slowed down, governed by the rate at which the electrospun HPGL–
C. officinalis membranes interacted with the physiological fluid. The rate of release of
C. officinalis seemed to depend on the
C. officinalis content in the HPGL nanofibers. From the elastic modulus, it could be seen that elastic electrospun HPGL fibers were obtained with increments of
C. officinalis content in the HPGL–
C. officinalis membranes. The results of
in vivo experiments in rats suggested that HPGL–
C. officinalis might be an interesting bioactive wound dressing material for clinical applications.
The turning process of the duplex stainless steel (DSS) has received special attention in recent years due to its attractive combination of mechanical and corrosion properties, which are suitable for ...many marine and petrochemical applications, particularly where chlorides are present. Thus, a better understanding of the machining parameters is critical in attaining high quality in the turning process of the DSS. This paper presents a predictive and optimization model based on integrated response surface methodology (RSM) and desirability function to predict the surface roughness, the material removal rate, and the corresponding machining parameters during the turning of the UNS S32760 with a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) tool. The experimental design was a central composite design (CCD) with three center points and an axial distance of 1.68 from the center. The statistical significance of the developed model has been tested by the analysis of variance and the influence of the factors analyzed. The optimization results are presented considering three aims: (1) minimizing surface roughness; (2) maximizing the material removal rate; and (3) minimizing the surface roughness and maximizing the material removal rate.
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