Multiple Myeloma (MM) is a hematological malignancy characterized by the clonal proliferation of plasma cells within the bone marrow. Diagnosing MM presents considerable challenges, involving the ...identification of plasma cells in cytology examinations on hematological slides. At present, this is still a time-consuming manual task and has high labor costs. These challenges have adverse implications, which rely heavily on medical professionals' expertise and experience. To tackle these challenges, we present an investigation using Artificial Intelligence, specifically a Machine Learning analysis of hematological slides with a Deep Neural Network (DNN), to support specialists during the process of diagnosing MM. In this sense, the contribution of this study is twofold: in addition to the trained model to diagnose MM, we also make available to the community a fully-curated hematological slide dataset with thousands of images of plasma cells. Taken together, the setup we established here is a framework that researchers and hospitals with limited resources can promptly use. Our contributions provide practical results that have been directly applied in the public health system in Brazil. Given the open-source nature of the project, we anticipate it will be used and extended to diagnose other malignancies.
We detail the sensitivity of the proposed liquid xenon DARWIN observatory to solar neutrinos via elastic electron scattering. We find that DARWIN will have the potential to measure the fluxes of five ...solar neutrino components:
pp
,
7
Be,
13
N,
15
O and
pep
. The precision of the
13
N,
15
O and
pep
components is hindered by the double-beta decay of
136
Xe and, thus, would benefit from a depleted target. A high-statistics observation of
pp
neutrinos would allow us to infer the values of the electroweak mixing angle,
sin
2
θ
w
, and the electron-type neutrino survival probability,
P
ee
, in the electron recoil energy region from a few keV up to 200 keV for the first time, with relative precision of 5% and 4%, respectively, with 10 live years of data and a 30 tonne fiducial volume. An observation of
pp
and
7
Be neutrinos would constrain the neutrino-inferred solar luminosity down to 0.2%. A combination of all flux measurements would distinguish between the high- (GS98) and low-metallicity (AGS09) solar models with 2.1–2.5
σ
significance, independent of external measurements from other experiments or a measurement of
8
B neutrinos through coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering in DARWIN. Finally, we demonstrate that with a depleted target DARWIN may be sensitive to the neutrino capture process of
131
Xe.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
It is widely believed that a defining characteristic of ionic liquids (or low-temperature molten salts) is that they exert no measurable vapour pressure, and hence cannot be distilled. Here we ...demonstrate that this is unfounded, and that many ionic liquids can be distilled at low pressure without decomposition. Ionic liquids represent matter solely composed of ions, and so are perceived as non-volatile substances. During the last decade, interest in the field of ionic liquids has burgeoned, producing a wealth of intellectual and technological challenges and opportunities for the production of new chemical and extractive processes, fuel cells and batteries, and new composite materials. Much of this potential is underpinned by their presumed involatility. This characteristic, however, can severely restrict the attainability of high purity levels for ionic liquids (when they contain poorly volatile components) in recycling schemes, as well as excluding their use in gas-phase processes. We anticipate that our demonstration that some selected families of commonly used aprotic ionic liquids can be distilled at 200-300 °C and low pressure, with concomitant recovery of significant amounts of pure substance, will permit these currently excluded applications to be realized.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
We present the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) discovery of the optical counterpart of the first binary neutron star merger detected through gravitational-wave emission, GW170817. Our observations ...commenced 10.5 hr post-merger, as soon as the localization region became accessible from Chile. We imaged 70 deg2 in the i and z bands, covering 93% of the initial integrated localization probability, to a depth necessary to identify likely optical counterparts (e.g., a kilonova). At 11.4 hr post-merger we detected a bright optical transient located from the nucleus of NGC 4993 at redshift z = 0.0098, consistent (for km s−1 Mpc−1) with the distance of 40 8 Mpc reported by the LIGO Scientific Collaboration and the Virgo Collaboration (LVC). At detection the transient had magnitudes of and , and thus an absolute magnitude of , in the luminosity range expected for a kilonova. We identified 1500 potential transient candidates. Applying simple selection criteria aimed at rejecting background events such as supernovae, we find the transient associated with NGC 4993 as the only remaining plausible counterpart, and reject chance coincidence at the 99.5% confidence level. We therefore conclude that the optical counterpart we have identified near NGC 4993 is associated with GW170817. This discovery ushers in the era of multi-messenger astronomy with gravitational waves and demonstrates the power of DECam to identify the optical counterparts of gravitational-wave sources.
Aim
To evaluate the antibacterial, physicochemical and mechanical properties of two endodontic sealers incorporating quaternary ammonium polyethylenimine (QPEI) nanoparticles at concentrations of 1% ...and 2% (w/w).
Methodology
The sealers tested were AH Plus and Pulp Canal Sealer EWT in the commercial unmodified form or containing 1% or 2% QPEI. Antibacterial activity was evaluated using a direct contact test (DCT) against Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 29212 and two endodontic isolates (RW35 and RN44). Sealers freshly mixed or set for 7 days were exposed to bacterial suspensions for 10, 30 and 60 min. Setting time, flow test, solubility, apparent porosity, dimensional change following setting, wettability, zeta potential and compressive strength were assessed according to the International Standard Organization 6876:2001 (ISO 6876).
Results
DCT results revealed that both freshly prepared sealers had antibacterial effects unaffected by QPEI incorporation. Both unmodified sealers had lost much of their antibacterial effects after 7 days. However, for Pulp Canal Sealer EWT incorporated with 1% and 2% QPEI nanoparticles, the antibacterial effects against all test E. faecalis strains within 30 and 60 min of contact were significantly greater than the unmodified formula. Addition of QPEI resulted in no significant increase in the antibacterial effects of AH Plus after ageing. As for physicochemical and mechanical tests, setting time, wettability and zeta potential were influenced by the presence of QPEI nanoparticles.
Conclusion
Incorporation of QPEI nanoparticles can improve the long‐term antibacterial activity of Pulp Canal Sealer EWT without relevant changes in physicochemical and mechanical properties.
A novel hydrogel, based on an alginate/hyaluronate mixture and Ce(III) ions, with effective bioactive and antimicrobial ability was developed to be used as vehicle of a synthetic bone substitute ...producing an injectable substitute (
IBS
). Firstly, three different
IBS
s were prepared using three developed alginate-based hydrogels, the hydrogel
Alg
composed by alginate, the hydrogel
Alg/Ch
composed by an alginate/chitosan mixture and the hydrogel
Alg/HA
composed by an alginate/hyaluronate mixture. MG63 cells viability on the
IBS
s was evaluated, being observed a significantly higher cell viability on the
Alg/HA_IBS
at all time points, which indicates a better cell adaptation to the material, increasing their predisposition to produce extracellular matrix and thus allowing a better bone regeneration. Moreover, SEM analysis showed evident filopodia and a spreader shape of MG63 cells when seeded on
Alg/HA_IBS
. This way, based upon the in vitro results, the hydrogel
Alg/HA
was chosen to the in vivo study by subcutaneous implantation in an animal model, promoting a slight irritating tissue response and visible tissue repairing. The next step was to grant antimicrobial properties to the hydrogel that showed the best biological behavior by incorporation of Ce(III) ions into the
Alg/HA,
producing the hydrogel
Alg/HA2
. The antimicrobial activity of these hyaluronate-based hydrogels was evaluated against
Staphylococcus aureus
,
Staphylococcus epidermidis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa
and
Candida albicans
. Results showed that Ce(III) ions can significantly enhance the hydrogel antimicrobial ability without compromising the osteoconductivity improvement promoted by the vehicle association to the synthetic bone substitute.
Microglia have emerged as important players in brain aging and pathology. To understand how genetic risk for neurological and psychiatric disorders is related to microglial function, large ...transcriptome studies are essential. Here we describe the transcriptome analysis of 255 primary human microglial samples isolated at autopsy from multiple brain regions of 100 individuals. We performed systematic analyses to investigate various aspects of microglial heterogeneities, including brain region and aging. We mapped expression and splicing quantitative trait loci and showed that many neurological disease susceptibility loci are mediated through gene expression or splicing in microglia. Fine-mapping of these loci nominated candidate causal variants that are within microglia-specific enhancers, finding associations with microglial expression of USP6NL for Alzheimer's disease and P2RY12 for Parkinson's disease. We have built the most comprehensive catalog to date of genetic effects on the microglial transcriptome and propose candidate functional variants in neurological and psychiatric disorders.
Ateleia glazioveana Baill. is a pioneer, rustic and can be used for forest recovery. This work aimed to study the process of physiological maturation of this species. The research was carried out in ...the city of Alegre - ES, the trees were identified in the floral anthesis and accompanied during the filling of the fruits and development of the seeds until the complete maturation. The fruits were harvested at the following stages 7, 14, 21, 28, 35 and 42 days after anthesis, and characterized according to: morphometry, moisture, fresh and dry mass of fruits and seeds, germination, germination speed index, shoot and root length and dry mass of seedlings. The regression equations were adjusted for the main characteristics analyzed as a function of the harvest period. The point of physiological maturity of timbó occurred at 42 days after anthesis.
Producing micro and macroporous 3D structures that mimic the bone architecture of a specific anatomic region, namely the rounded trabeculae in trabecular bone, is a considerable challenge, to which ...additive manufacturing can make a fundamental contribution. The main objective of the work was to explore the Digital Light Processing (DLP) technique in obtaining customized parts, from a ceramic suspension composed of two different materials, specifically alumina and hydroxyapatite (HA), with a trabecular bone architecture, using Computer Assisted Design (CAD) modelling techniques and additive manufacturing. Hydroxyapatite (HA) was added to the alumina matrix to improve the biocompatibility and bioactivity of the composites after sintering. After optimizing all printing parameters and the suspensions rheological properties, samples in alumina and alumina-hydroxyapatite with the desired architecture were obtained. The influence of the incorporation of hydroxyapatite in the alumina formulations was also analyzed, with increasing hydroxyapatite contents: 5, 10, and 15 wt%. The rheological behaviour of the suspensions was studied in a plate-to-plate system. The physical-chemical and mechanical characterization of produced samples were carried out by X-ray diffraction, Scanning electron microscopy, and compressive tests. The suspensions prepared with two different materials showed adequate viscosity to achieve a good spread and homogeneous layers in the 3D printing process. In the produced samples, the occurrence of a hibonite phase (CaAl12O19), resulting from the reaction between alumina and hydroxyapatite during the sintering step, increased the compressive strength of the samples. The high temperature needed for sintering alumina led to the conversation of HA into TCP. The achieved mechanical strength results from the porosity level and the thickness of the struts of the printed architecture. DLP showed to be a precision printing technology of low cost that can be used to fabricate parts in the industry from a suspension composed of a mixture of alumina and HA powders, which is very useful in the bone repair field and not previously reported.
•First-time reporting of customised Alumina-CaP biocomposites fabricated by 3D DLP.•DLP is a precision low-cost printing technology of biocompatible structures.•Alumina and newly-formed hibonite gave mechanical resistance to the composites.•TCP from HA phase is responsible for increased bioactivity.•Biocomposites mimic morphology, physical-chemical and mechanical features of bone.
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