•A RBD-based synthetic peptide was shown safe when injected to mice and hamsters.•The vaccine candidate elicited antibodies that sustained for up to 2 months in mice.•Neutralizing antibodies and ...antigen-specific CD4 + CD8 + -IFNγ responses were detected.
The rapid spread of COVID-19 on all continents and the mortality induced by SARS-CoV-2 virus, the cause of the pandemic coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has motivated an unprecedented effort for vaccine development. Inactivated viruses as well as vaccines focused on the partial or total sequence of the Spike protein using different novel platforms such us RNA, DNA, proteins, and non-replicating viral vectors have been developed. The high global need for vaccines, now and in the future, and the emergence of new variants of concern still requires development of accessible vaccines that can be adapted according to the most prevalent variants in the respective regions.
Here, we describe the immunogenic properties of a group of theoretically predicted RBD peptides to be used as the first step towards the development of an effective, safe and low-cost epitope-focused vaccine. One of the tested peptides named P5, proved to be safe and immunogenic. Subcutaneous administration of the peptide, formulated with alumina, induced high levels of specific IgG antibodies in mice and hamsters, as well as an increase of IFN-γ expression by CD8+ T cells in C57 and BALB/c mice upon in vitro stimulation with P5. Neutralizing titers of anti-P5 antibodies, however, were disappointingly low, a deficiency that we will attempt to resolve by the inclusion of additional immunogenic epitopes to P5. The safety and immunogenicity data reported in this study support the use of this peptide as a starting point for the design of an epitope restricted vaccine.
Different factors can contribute to a sedentary lifestyle among hemodialysis (HD) patients, including the period they spend on dialysis. The aim of this study was to evaluate characteristics of ...physical activities in daily life in this population by using an accurate triaxial accelerometer and to correlate these characteristics with physiological variables. Nineteen HD patients were evaluated using the DynaPort accelerometer and compared to nineteen control individuals, regarding the time spent in different activities and positions of daily life and the number of steps taken. HD patients were more sedentary than control individuals, spending less time walking or standing and spending more time lying down. The sedentary behavior was more pronounced on dialysis days. According to the number of steps taken per day, 47.4% of hemodialysis patients were classified as sedentary against 10.5% in control group. Hemoglobin level, lower extremity muscle strength, and physical functioning of SF-36 questionnaire correlated significantly with the walking time and active time. Looking accurately at the patterns of activity in daily life, HDs patients are more sedentary, especially on dialysis days. These patients should be motivated to enhance the physical activity.
This work links the relationship between the structural, morphological, mechanical and tribological behaviors with the rotary fatigue life performances of AISI 1045 steel substrates coated with ...titanium carbo-nitride (TiCN), chromium aluminum nitride (CrAlN), and boron carbon nitride (BCN) through physical vapor deposition. Appropriate conditions of the deposition of the coatings allowed to obtain improved properties. These coatings were deposited on AISI 1045 steel substrates. Singular layers of the different coatings were used, with a stable layer thickness of ~ 3 μm. The influence of the coating type on the crystal structure, bond energies, and microstructural properties were established by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Mechanical properties such as hardness and modulus of elasticity of the coatings were determined by nanoindentation. Tribological characterization techniques were used to determine friction coefficients. For the rotary fatigue test, the following ratios, 70%, 65%, 60% and 55% of the ultimate stress value, were chosen to determine the applied stress levels. For all three coatings, an increase in fatigue strength was found: 9.625% for TiCN, 4.215% for BCN, and 3.954% for CrAlN. The increase in mechanical properties together with the lower presence of residual stresses in the coatings justifies the increase in fatigue resistance.
The present study investigated the water mobility in muscle of salted sardines (Sardinella brasiliensis) on different days of storage, by the use of Low-Field Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (LF NMR 1H). ...The exponential fitting of the transverse relaxation (T2) data revealed three components (three pools): one with a relaxation time of 11.2–17.5 ms; a second with a relaxation time ranging from 35.3 to 44.7 ms and the third with a relaxation time of 161.7–256.5 ms. Conventional physical and chemical analyses revealed changes in the quality of the salted fish during storage. A close correlation was observed between the indication of quality (good, regular and poor) obtained through the physical and chemical parameters analyzed (cooking test, presence of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide), and the relaxation data (NMR) (p < 0.05). The change in water mobility-induced by degradation that occurs during storage of salted fish resulted in changes in component (water pools) values observed by transverse relaxation NMR. These results are relate primarily to protein degradation that occurs during storage of the product, altering the dynamics and organization of water molecules.
•We used LF 1H NMR to study changes in the quality of salted fish during storage.•LF NMR can be used to investigate changes in water mobility in the food structure.•The LF NMR indicated that the additive causes changes in the salted-fish muscle structure.•Correlations were found between LF 1H NMR parameters and physical and chemical quality properties.•LF 1H NMR is useful for investigating the distribution of water in salted fish.
The objective of this study is to evaluate the contamination of water resources in the Parac subbasin. The existing contamination by heavy metals due to the presence of mining companies is of great ...concern to the population that inhabits the area since health is being affected. A methodology has been used as an integrated approach based on pollution assessment indices. Five surface water samples and seven groundwater samples were collected in the Parac subbasin, in the vicinity of the Tamboraque tailings. Physicochemical parameters and heavy metals (Al, As, Br, Pb, Fe, Cd, Mn, Hg, B, Ni, Cu, and Se) were analyzed. The mean concentrations of Al, As, Ba, Cu, Fe, Pb, and Zn were 0.3 mg/L, 0.02 mg/L, 0.02 mg/L, 0.05 mg/L, 0.8 mg/L, 0.04 mg/L, and 0.12 mg/L respectively. HPI, HEI, and Cd indices were averaged around 1378.5, 134.5, and 126.5 respectively, HPI and Cd values were above 100 as a critical contamination index value, which indicates that the water samples are critically contaminated with respect to the heavy metals studied. The total variance was 88.11% of the water quality with two components according to the ACP analysis. Al, As, Cu, Fe, Pb, Zn, and Mn showed a high positive charge on PC1 (69.68%) while Ba and Mo had a high positive charge on PC2 (18.12%). The intensity of distribution of metals As, Fe, Mn, and Pb in surface and groundwater is an environmental concern and a more complete monitoring network is needed for the sustainable management of water resources.
In this work novel photocatalysts have been synthesized based on hydrozincite and SnO2 with varying mol% of SnO2 in hydrozincite. The photocatalysts were prepared via chemical co-precipitation using ...thermal urea hydrolysis, without calcination or activation processes, and were applied in the photodegradation of micropollutants (in this case, several phenolic compounds). Characterization of the materials using various techniques revealed that the generation of hydroxyl radicals, holes, and superoxide radicals played crucial roles in the photodegradation process. The best photocatalyst was achieved with a 10 mol% SnO2 content in hydrozincite, which shows the highest rate in the pollutants degradation (higher than 93% in all the cases), also higher than TiO2-P25This study presents promising insights for developing highly efficient photocatalytic materials for environmental remediation applications.
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•HDZn-Sn materials were synthesized easily and in one step.•Without calcining and without any activation process the materials have a high photocatalytic activity.•The presence of heterostructures, oxygen vacancies and electronic states reduces recombination between the h+e- pair.•The HDZn-Sn10 material was the best photocatalyst for contaminant degradation, surpassing the reference material TiO2-P25.
•Gd/GdN superlattices present a broader ΔS peak when compared to pure Gd film.•The GdN layers generate a second ΔS peak around 70 K.•Gd/GdN superlattices can be designed to enlarge the temperature ...range of high ΔS.
Superlattices of Gd/GdN were grown on silicon substrates with different thickness ratio between nanolayers of Gd and GdN. Films were characterized through XRD, XPS and magnetization measurements. Results indicate that different multilayer arrangements, with layers between 5 and 20 nm thickness, promote: (1) a broadening of the peak of isothermal magnetic entropy change around 250–270 K and (2) the emergence of a second peak around 70 K.
Purpose: Decentralize standards to each process owner is an open issue. Centralized standards are a common situation which puts a big amount of chore tasks against continual improvement. The pipes ...and puddles framework was born to solve this problem.Design/methodology/approach: Pipes and puddles framework takes its ground in risk management, which is carried out from the perspective of the physics of the process.Findings: Putting a clear difference among reactive and preventive problem-solving is the first observable change when adopting this framework, which drives to keep cost of poor quality (COPQ) permanently close to zero. Another important consequence of adopting this framework is that there is no person responsible for the continuous improvement process, but each process owner is responsible for the continuous improvement of their process.Research limitations/implications: This research is still limited to a few empirical cases of use; the diffusion of its benefits and guidelines to its real implementation is an opportunity for a massive adoption. A formal representation is also necessary.Practical implications: Pipes and puddles framework brings to management a roadmap to foster the role of process owner, providing a decentralized approach towards risk management, to react to non-conformities and to implement effective channels for continual improvement.Social implications: Approach to a green factory as a direct consequence of elimination of COPQ and the empowerment of all employees by having specific roles and regular channels to effectively act as agents of continual improvement.Originality/value: The vision of each process in the firm as the interconnection of three pipes (sub-processes) is a novelty that completely solves common issues for all processes that are transversal to all others (risk management, non-conformant products, customer claims, change management, etc.).
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