The first of the two missions foreseen in the ExoMars program was successfully launched on 14th March 2016. It included the Trace Gas Orbiter and the Schiaparelli Entry descent and landing ...Demonstrator Module. Schiaparelli hosted the DREAMS instrument suite that was the only scientific payload designed to operate after the touchdown. DREAMS is a meteorological station with the capability of measuring the electric properties of the Martian atmosphere. It was a completely autonomous instrument, relying on its internal battery for the power supply. Even with low resources (mass, energy), DREAMS would be able to perform novel measurements on Mars (atmospheric electric field) and further our understanding of the Martian environment, including the dust cycle. DREAMS sensors were designed to operate in a very dusty environment, because the experiment was designed to operate on Mars during the dust storm season (October 2016 in Meridiani Planum). Unfortunately, the Schiaparelli module failed part of the descent and the landing and crashed onto the surface of Mars. Nevertheless, several seconds before the crash, the module central computer switched the DREAMS instrument on, and sent back housekeeping data indicating that the DREAMS sensors were performing nominally. This article describes the instrument in terms of scientific goals, design, working principle and performances, as well as the results of calibration and field tests. The spare model is mature and available to fly in a future mission.
Pt/N-TiO.sub.2 aerogel photocatalysts were obtained by means of sol-gel process followed by low temperature supercritical drying. Urea and guanidine-HCl were used as nitrogen sources. Pt clusters ...were loaded on photocatalysts surface by photoreduction process. Enhanced photocatalytic activities and H.sub.2 evolution rates were obtained on photocatalysts containing nitrogen impurities. Graphical
Synthetic physiological fluids are currently used as a first in vitro bioactivity assessment for bone grafts. Our understanding about the interactions taking place at the fluid-implant interface has ...evolved remarkably during the last decade, and does not comply with the traditional International Organization for Standardization/final draft International Standard 23317 protocol in purely inorganic simulated body fluid. The advances in our knowledge point to the need of a true paradigm shift toward testing physiological fluids with enhanced biomimicry and a better understanding of the materials' structure-dissolution behavior. This will contribute to "upgrade" our vision of entire cascades of events taking place at the implant surfaces upon immersion in the testing media or after implantation. Starting from an osteoinductive bioglass composition with the ability to alleviate the oxidative stress, thin bioglass films with different degrees of polymerization were deposited onto titanium substrates. Their biomineralization activity in simulated body fluid and in a series of new inorganic-organic media with increasing biomimicry that more closely simulated the human intercellular environment was compared. A comprehensive range of advanced characterization tools (scanning electron microscopy; grazing-incidence X-ray diffraction; Fourier-transform infrared, micro-Raman, energy-dispersive, X-ray photoelectron, and surface-enhanced laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectroscopies; and cytocompatibility assays using mesenchymal stem cells) were used. The information gathered is very useful to biologists, biophysicists, clinicians, and material scientists with special interest in teaching and research. By combining all the analyses, we propose herein a step forward toward establishing an improved unified protocol for testing the bioactivity of implant materials.
The primary objective of this trial was to assess safety and anti-inflammatory effects of an add-on training program involving breathing exercises, cold exposure, and meditation in patients with ...axial spondyloarthritis.
This study was an open-label, randomised, one-way crossover clinical proof-of-concept trial. Twenty-four patients with moderately active axial spondyloarthritis(ASDAS >2.1) and hs-CRP ≥5mg/L were included and randomised to an intervention (n = 13) and control group (n = 11) group that additionally received the intervention after the control period. The intervention period lasted for 8 weeks. The primary endpoint was safety, secondary endpoints were change in hs-CRP, serum calprotectin levels and ESR over the 8-week period. Exploratory endpoints included disease activity measured by ASDAS-CRP and BASDAI, quality of life (SF-36, EQ-5D, EQ-5D VAS), and hospital anxiety and depression (HADS).
We found no significant differences in adverse events between groups, with one serious adverse event occurring 8 weeks after end of the intervention and judged 'unrelated'. During the 8-week intervention period, there was a significant decline of ESR from (median interquartile range to 16 9-26.5 to 9 5-23 mm/hr, p = 0.040, whereas no effect was found in the control group (from 14 8.3-27.3 to 16 5-37 m/hr, p = 0.406). ASDAS-CRP declined from 3.1 2.5-3.6 to 2.3 1.9-3.2 in the intervention group (p = 0.044). A similar trend was observed for serum calprotectin (p = 0.064 in the intervention group versus p = 0.182 in the control group), but not for hs-CRP.
This proof-of-concept study in axial spondyloarthritis met its primary endpoint with no safety signals during the intervention. There was a significant decrease in ESR levels and ASDAS-CRP upon the add-on training program in the intervention group. These findings warrant full-scale randomised controlled trials of this novel therapeutic approach in patients with inflammatory conditions.
ClinicalTrials.gov; NCT02744014.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Powdered adsorbent obtained from bathurst burr biomass was tested for methylene blue removal from aqueous solutions. SEM and FTIR analyses were used to characterize the adsorbent before and after ...adsorption. The influence of contact time, adsorbent dose, pH, initial dye concentration, ionic strength and temperature on the process were investigated. Kinetic, equilibrium and thermodynamic studies were conducted to analyse the process. The Taguchi method was used to establish the most suitable conditions for the dye adsorption. The process is spontaneous, favourable, and exothermic and the Freundlich isotherm and pseudo-second order kinetic model best describe it. The Taguchi method indicate that the ionic strength is the factor with the greatest influence on the adsorption process.
The long-term survival of a species requires, among other things, gene flow between populations. Approaches for the evaluation of fragmentation in the frame of freshwater habitats consider only a ...small amount of the information that combined demography and geography are currently able to provide. This study addresses two species of Austropotamobius crayfish in the light of population genetics, spatial ecology and protected areas of the Carpathians. Advancing the classical approaches, we defined ecological distances upon the rasterised river network as a surrogate of habitat resistance to migration, quantifying the deviations from the species´ suitability range for a set of relevant geospatial variables in each cell of the network. Molecular analyses revealed the populations of the two Austropotamobius crayfish species are clearly distinct, lacking hybridisation. Comparing pairs of populations, we found, in some cases, a strong disagreement regarding genetic and ecological distances, potentially due to human-mediated translocations or the geophysical phenomena of regressive erosion, which may have led to unexpected colonisation routes. Protected areas were found to offer appropriate local habitat conditions but failed to ensure connectivity. The methodology applied in this study allowed us to quantify the contribution of each geospatial (environmental) variable to the overall effect of fragmentation, and we found that water quality was the most important variable. A multilevel approach proved to reveal a better understanding of drivers behind the distribution patterns, which can lead to more adequate conservation measures.
The results of both a line‐broadening study on a ceria sample and a size–strain round robin on diffraction line‐broadening methods, which was sponsored by the Commission on Powder Diffraction of the ...International Union of Crystallography, are presented. The sample was prepared by heating hydrated ceria at 923 K for 45 h. Another ceria sample was prepared to correct for the effects of instrumental broadening by annealing commercially obtained ceria at 1573 K for 3 h and slowly cooling it in the furnace. The diffraction measurements were carried out with two laboratory and two synchrotron X‐ray sources, two constant‐wavelength neutron and a time‐of‐flight (TOF) neutron source. Diffraction measurements were analyzed by three methods: the model assuming a lognormal size distribution of spherical crystallites, Warren–Averbach analysis and Rietveld refinement. The last two methods detected a relatively small strain in the sample, as opposed to the first method. Assuming a strain‐free sample, the results from all three methods agree well. The average real crystallite size, on the assumption of a spherical crystallite shape, is 191 (5) Å. The scatter of results given by different instruments is relatively small, although significantly larger than the estimated standard uncertainties. The Rietveld refinement results for this ceria sample indicate that the diffraction peaks can be successfully approximated with a pseudo‐Voigt function. In a common approximation used in Rietveld refinement programs, this implies that the size‐broadened profile cannot be approximated by a Lorentzian but by a full Voigt or pseudo‐Voigt function. In the second part of this paper, the results of the round robin on the size–strain line‐broadening analysis methods are presented, which was conducted through the participation of 18 groups from 12 countries. Participants have reported results obtained by analyzing data that were collected on the two ceria samples at seven instruments. The analysis of results received in terms of coherently diffracting, both volume‐weighted and area‐weighted apparent domain size are reported. Although there is a reasonable agreement, the reported results on the volume‐weighted domain size show significantly higher scatter than those on the area‐weighted domain size. This is most likely due to a significant number of results reporting a high value of strain. Most of those results were obtained by Rietveld refinement in which the Gaussian size parameter was not refined, thus erroneously assigning size‐related broadening to other effects. A comparison of results with the average of the three‐way comparative analysis from the first part shows a good agreement.
Euclid preparation Bodendorf, C.; Grupp, F.; Hormuth, F. ...
Astronomy and astrophysics (Berlin),
06/2022, Letnik:
662
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Euclid
will be the first space mission to survey most of the extragalactic sky in the 0.95–2.02 µm range, to a 5
σ
point-source median depth of 24.4 AB mag. This unique photometric dataset will find ...wide use beyond
Euclid’s
core science. In this paper, we present accurate computations of the Euclid
Y
E
,
J
E
, and
H
E
passbands used by the Near-Infrared Spectrometer and Photometer (NISP), and the associated photometric system. We pay particular attention to passband variations in the field of view, accounting for, among other factors, spatially variable filter transmission and variations in the angle of incidence on the filter substrate using optical ray tracing. The response curves’ cut-on and cut-off wavelengths – and their variation in the field of view – are determined with ~0.8 nm accuracy, essential for the photometric redshift accuracy required by
Euclid.
After computing the photometric zero points in the AB mag system, we present linear transformations from and to common ground-based near-infrared photometric systems, for normal stars, red and brown dwarfs, and galaxies separately. A
Python
tool to compute accurate magnitudes for arbitrary passbands and spectral energy distributions is provided. We discuss various factors, from space weathering to material outgassing, that may slowly alter
Euclid
’s spectral response. At the absolute flux scale, the
Euclid
in-flight calibration program connects the NISP photometric system to
Hubble
Space Telescope spectrophotometric white dwarf standards; at the relative flux scale, the chromatic evolution of the response is tracked at the milli-mag level. In this way, we establish an accurate photometric system that is fully controlled throughout
Euclid’s
lifetime.
A significant number of therapeutics derived from natural polymers and plants have been developed to replace or to be used in conjunction with existing dressing products. The use of the therapeutic ...properties of aloe vera could be very useful in the creation of active wound dressing materials. The present work was undertaken to examine issues concerning structural features, topography, enzymatic degradation behavior, antibacterial activity and cellular response of chitosan/aloe vera-based membranes. The chitosan/aloe vera-based membranes that were developed displayed satisfactory degradation, roughness, wettability and mechanical properties. A higher antibacterial potency was displayed by the blended membranes. Moreover, in vitro assays demonstrated that these blended membranes have good cell compatibility with primary human dermal fibroblasts. The chitosan/aloe vera-based membranes might be promising wound dressing materials.
After the pandemic of SARS-CoV-2, people's lives will be different. It seems that in the next period, due to the spread of SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide, all objects, surfaces and spaces that people ...come in contact with must be disinfected frequently. At the same time, the atmosphere in closed spaces must be disinfected because the transmission of the virus through the air is made easier. It seems that an effective method of disinfection (viruses, bacteria, etc.) is the use of ozone generators. Ozone in the air over a certain dose affects the human respiratory system. It is known the role of anions on human health, especially given that the vast majority will spend time indoors. Staying in homes for long periods of time has negative effects on the humans body. The paper presents and analyze ozone, anions, and the their generators. It is presented a generator that can produce both ozone (measured with an electrochemical sensor) at a certain concentration for limited periods of time, as well as anions in high concentrations that have a beneficial effect on humans health. Air quality is measured (with an electrochemical sensor), and in conditions of low quality, the generator can provide higher concentrations of anions. The ozone and anions generator is controlled with microcontroller development board. The flowchart of the program used in the microcontroller is presented.
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