Display omitted
•Sorting lines reject around 40% of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE).•Unsortable mixed plastics from post-consumer WEEE have been compatibilized.•SEBS-30 led to ...reduced phase segregation and improved fracture surface.•Differential Scanning Calorimetry showed 20% SEBS-30 increased polymer interaction.•20% SEBS-30 yielded mechanical performance comparable to that of virgin polymers.
While near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy in post-consumer waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) recycling accurately separates white or clear polymers, 40% containing dark plastics, termed 'unsortable WEEE,' are excluded from sorting lines and therefore incinerated or landfilled, causing environmental concerns. This study investigates the potential of using non-reactive and reactive copolymers as compatibilizers to enhance the performance of unsortable WEEE plastics free of brominated flame retardants. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that such copolymers have been explored as a solution for improving the compatibility of unsortable WEEE polymer blends. Initial trials with 4% of styrene-ethylene-butylene-styrene copolymer (SEBS-13) and SEBS-30-g-(maleic anhydride) copolymer (SEBS-30-g-MA MA) as compatibilizers showed insufficient results compared to virgin commercial polymers. However, the addition of higher concentrations of compatibilizers (i.e. up to 20 wt%) and the use of a SEBS having a higher styrene content (i.e. SEBS-30) improved the mechanical properties of the material, causing it to transition from brittle to ductile. This behavior was found more pronounced for the 20% non-reactive SEBS-30, for which the SEM analysis showed reduced phase segregation and revealed a more homogeneous fracture surface. This was further supported by Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) analysis, which showed evidence of an interaction between one or more polymer phases. With a room temperature performance equivalent to that of virgin conventional polymers, the SEBS-30 compatibilization approach has made it possible to consider using unsortable WEEE streams as recycled materials in commercial applications.
CdTe thin-film solar cells are now the main industrially established alternative to silicon-based photovoltaics. These cells remain reliant on the so-called chloride activation step in order to ...achieve high conversion efficiencies. Here, by comparison of effective and ineffective chloride treatments, we show the main role of the chloride process to be the modification of grain boundaries through chlorine accumulation, which leads an increase in the carrier lifetime. It is also demonstrated that while improvements in fill factor and short circuit current may be achieved through use of the ineffective chlorides, or indeed simple air annealing, voltage improvement is linked directly to chlorine incorporation at the grain boundaries. This suggests that focus on improved or more controlled grain boundary treatments may provide a route to achieving higher cell voltages and thus efficiencies.
Tick immunobiology Brossard, M; Wikel, S K
Parasitology,
10/2004, Letnik:
129 Suppl
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Ticks are of vast medical and veterinary public health importance due to direct damage caused by feeding and their roles in transmitting well known and emerging infectious agents. Ticks and ...tick-borne pathogens stimulate the immune system of the host. Those immune interactions are of importance in tick biology, pathogen transmission and control of ticks and tick-borne diseases. Both innate and specific acquired immune defenses are involved in the responses of vertebrate hosts to infestation. Ticks have evolved countermeasures to circumvent host immune defenses. This review addresses the immunobiology of the tick-host interface from the perspectives of the pharmacology of tick saliva; relationship of tick saliva to pathogen transmission; host immune responses to infestation; tick modulation of host immune defences; and genomic/proteomic strategies for studying tick salivary gland molecules.
The number of genetic factors associated with asthma remains limited. To identify new genes with an undetected individual effect but collectively influencing asthma risk, we conducted a ...network-assisted analysis that integrates outcomes of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and protein-protein interaction networks. We used two GWAS datasets, each consisting of the results of a meta-analysis of nine childhood-onset asthma GWASs (5,924 and 6,043 subjects, respectively). We developed a novel method to compute gene-level P-values (fastCGP), and proposed a parallel dense-module search and cross-selection strategy to identify an asthma-associated gene module. We identified a module of 91 genes with a significant joint effect on childhood-onset asthma (P < 10
). This module contained a core subnetwork including genes at known asthma loci and five peripheral subnetworks including relevant candidates. Notably, the core genes were connected to APP (encoding amyloid beta precursor protein), a major player in Alzheimer's disease that is known to have immune and inflammatory components. Functional analysis of the module genes revealed four gene clusters involved in innate and adaptive immunity, chemotaxis, cell-adhesion and transcription regulation, which are biologically meaningful processes that may underlie asthma risk. Our findings provide important clues for future research into asthma aetiology.
Abstract Iris is a specific elastase inhibitor expressed in the salivary glands of the hard tick Ixodes ricinus . It belongs to the superfamily of serpins and interferes with both haemostasis and the ...immune response of the host. In this study, we first show that Iris is expressed in nymphs but not in the female midgut nor in males. We also show that Iris is present in the saliva. To examine its potency as anti-tick vaccine candidate, we set up three models of I. ricinus infestation on immunized animals: nymphs on mice, and adults and nymphs on rabbits. We report the rise of neutralizing antibodies following immunization of rabbits and mice. This comes with a significant protective immunity against ticks in rabbits only, resulting in a 30% mortality rate and a diminution of weight gain in both nymphs and adults and a prolongation of blood feeding time in adults. This is the first report on an anti-tick vaccine trial on I. ricinus using a protein able to interact with both host immunity and haemostasis, as a vaccinating antigen.
Summary
Background
Genetic studies of eczema have identified many genes, which explain only 14% of the heritability. Missing heritability may be partly due to ignored gene–gene (G‐G) interactions.
...Objective
Our aim was to detect new interacting genes involved in eczema.
Methods
The search for G‐G interaction in eczema was conducted using a two‐step approach, which included as a first step, a biological selection of genes, which are involved either in the skin or epidermis development or in the collagen metabolism, and as a second step, an interaction analysis of the selected genes. Analyses were carried out at both SNP and gene levels in three asthma‐ascertained family samples: the discovery dataset of 388 EGEA (Epidemiological study on the Genetics and Environment of Asthma) families and the two replication datasets of 253 SLSJ (Saguenay–Lac‐Saint‐Jean) families and 207 MRCA (Medical Research Council) families.
Results
One pair of SNPs, rs2287807 in COL5A3 and rs17576 in MMP9, that were detected in EGEA at P ≤ 10−5 showed significant interaction by meta‐analysis of EGEA, SLSJ and MRCA samples (P = 1.1 × 10−8 under the significant threshold of 10−7). Gene‐based analysis confirmed strong interaction between COL5A3 and MMP9 (P = 4 × 10−8 under the significant threshold of 4 × 10−6) by meta‐analysis of the three datasets. When stratifying the data on asthma, this interaction remained in both groups of asthmatic and non‐asthmatic subjects.
Conclusion
This study identified significant interaction between two new genes, COL5A3 and MMP9, which may be accounted for by a degradation of COL5A3 by MMP9 influencing eczema susceptibility. Further confirmation of this interaction as well as functional studies is needed to better understand the role of these genes in eczema.
Liquid Metal Embrittlement (LME) is a complex phenomenon which may occur during spot welding of zinc-coated Advanced High Strength Steels (AHSS) developed for the Automotive market.
Zn or Zn-rich ...alloy in liquid state penetrates along the steel grain boundaries and may cause, depending on conditions, grains’ decohesion and cracks’ initiation and propagation under given mechanical stresses.
LME sensitivity depends on the steel microstructure and mechanical properties, its bulk and surface composition, the coating composition and the spot welding process itself.
In this study, a comparative assessment of conventional GalvanIzed (GI) and GalvAnnealed (GA) coatings in terms of LME behaviour has been done on the same sensitive AHSS material with the same welding process configuration and parameters. The intrinsic effect of the type of coating (GI vs GA) on the LME performance during spot welding could therefore be properly evaluated. It has been observed that no significant difference exists between both coatings.
This paper deals with the modelling of Ni/Al interdiffusion. The modelling of the diffusion process has been performed by taking into account a single diffusion equation, in which the diffusivity is ...concentration dependent. This approach allows the calculus procedure to be simplified. Numerical results are in good agreement with experimental ones. This model also enables the influence of heat treatment to be analysed and takes into consideration the initial aluminium layer thickness.
Objective
Various methods are utilized in daily practice to obtain optimal information on effusion in the knee. Our aim is to investigate which scanning position provides the best information about ...synovial fluid in the knee by using ultrasound and to evaluate the magnitude of difference for measuring synovial fluid in 3 major recesses (suprapatellar, medial parapatellar, and lateral parapatellar) of the knee according to various degrees of flexion.
Methods
Sonographers in 14 European centers documented bilateral knee joint ultrasound examinations on a total of 148 knee joints. The largest sagittal diameter of fluid was measured in scans corresponding to the 3 major recesses at different (0°, 15°, 30°, 45°, 60°, and 90°) degrees of flexion of the knee. The difference of measurement of effusion according to transducer position, knee position, and the interaction between them was investigated by analysis of variance followed by Tukey's test.
Results
No correlation was noted between patient characteristics and ultrasound detection of effusion. The sagittal diameter of synovial fluid in all 3 recesses was greatest at 30° flexion. Analysis of variance and Tukey's test revealed that the suprapatellar scan and 30° flexion is the best combination for detecting effusion as confirmed by receiver operator characteristic curve analysis.
Conclusion
The suprapatellar scan of the knee in 30° flexion was the most sensitive position to detect fluid in knee joints. Sagittal diameter of fluid in all 3 recesses increased with the knee in the 30° flexed position as compared to the extended position.
Brain injury in neonates with congenital heart disease is an important predictor of adverse neurodevelopmental outcome. Impaired brain development in congenital heart disease may have a prenatal ...origin, but the sensitivity and specificity of fetal brain MR imaging for predicting neonatal brain lesions are currently unknown. We sought to determine the value of conventional fetal MR imaging for predicting abnormal findings on neonatal preoperative MR imaging in neonates with complex congenital heart disease.
MR imaging studies were performed in 103 fetuses with confirmed congenital heart disease (mean gestational age, 31.57 ± 3.86 weeks) and were repeated postnatally before cardiac surgery (mean age, 6.8 ± 12.2 days). Each MR imaging study was read by a pediatric neuroradiologist.
Brain abnormalities were detected in 17/103 (16%) fetuses by fetal MR imaging and in 33/103 (32%) neonates by neonatal MR imaging. Only 9/33 studies with abnormal neonatal findings were preceded by abnormal findings on fetal MR imaging. The sensitivity and specificity of conventional fetal brain MR imaging for predicting neonatal brain abnormalities were 27% and 89%, respectively.
Brain abnormalities detected by in utero MR imaging in fetuses with congenital heart disease are associated with higher risk of postnatal preoperative brain injury. However, a substantial proportion of anomalies on postnatal MR imaging were not present on fetal MR imaging; this result is likely due to the limitations of conventional fetal MR imaging and the emergence of new lesions that occurred after the fetal studies. Postnatal brain MR imaging studies are needed to confirm the presence of injury before open heart surgery.
PDF
