With photovoltaics becoming a mature, commercially feasible technology, society is willing to allocate resources for developing and deploying new technologies based on using solar light. Analysis of ...projects supported by the European Commission in the past decade indicates exponential growth of funding to photocatalytic (PC) and photoelectrocatalytic (PEC) technologies that aim either at technology readiness levels (TRLs) TRL 1–3 or TRL > 3, with more than 75 Mio€ allocated from the year 2019 onward. This review provides a summary of PC and PEC processes for the synthesis of bulk commodities such as solvents and fuels, as well as chemicals for niche applications. An overview of photoreactors for photocatalysis on a larger scale is provided. The review rounds off with the summary of reactions performed at lab scale under natural outdoor solar light to illustrate conceptual opportunities offered by solar-driven chemistry beyond the reduction of CO2 and water splitting. The authors offer their vision of the impact of this area of research on society and the economy.
The human respiratory syncytial virus (hRSV) is by far the major cause of acute lower respiratory tract infections (ALRTIs) worldwide in infants and children younger than 2 years. The overwhelming ...number of hospitalizations due to hRSV-induced ALRTI each year is due, at least in part, to the lack of licensed vaccines against this virus. Thus, hRSV infection is considered a major public health problem and economic burden in most countries. The lung pathology developed in hRSV-infected individuals is characterized by an exacerbated proinflammatory and unbalanced Th2-type immune response. In addition to the adverse effects in airway tissues, hRSV infection can also cause neurologic manifestations in the host, such as seizures and encephalopathy. Although the origins of these extrapulmonary symptoms remain unclear, studies with patients suffering from neurological alterations suggest an involvement of the inflammatory response against hRSV. Furthermore, hRSV has evolved numerous mechanisms to modulate and evade the immune response in the host. Several studies have focused on elucidating the interactions between hRSV virulence factors and the host immune system, to rationally design new vaccines and therapies against this virus. Here, we discuss about the infection, pathology, and immune response triggered by hRSV in the host.
The first part of this study aims at evaluating the accuracy of DFT calculations of acids and their conjugate bases in periodic boundary conditions and plane-wave basis sets. The resulting gas-phase ...acidities are compared to experimental data. Calculations done with the PBE functional are accurate, with a
∼
4
kcal
mol
-
1
mean average deviation (MAD) with respect to experiments and a
∼
1
kcal
mol
-
1
MAD with respect to non-periodic DFT calculations done in the aug-cc-pvtz basis set with the same functional. In the second part, the relative stability of
Ru
13
-
isomers is also successfully compared to previous calculations done using local basis sets (Waldt et al. in J Chem Phys 142:024319,
2015
). Finally, several carboxylic acids and their conjugate bases are adsorbed on two Ru
13
clusters, showing a linear correlation between adsorption energies and experimental gas-phase acidities.
Biodiversity loss is a major challenge. Over the past century, the average rate of vertebrate extinction has been about 100-fold higher than the estimated background rate and population declines ...continue to increase globally. Birth and death rates determine the pace of population increase or decline, thus driving the expansion or extinction of a species. Design of species conservation policies hence depends on demographic data (e.g., for extinction risk assessments or estimation of harvesting quotas). However, an overview of the accessible data, even for better known taxa, is lacking. Here, we present the Demographic Species Knowledge Index, which classifies the available information for 32,144 (97%) of extant described mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians. We show that only 1.3% of the tetrapod species have comprehensive information on birth and death rates. We found no demographic measures, not even crude ones such as maximum life span or typical litter/clutch size, for 65% of threatened tetrapods. More field studies are needed; however, some progress can be made by digitalizing existing knowledge, by imputing data from related species with similar life histories, and by using information from captive populations. We show that data from zoos and aquariums in the Species360 network can significantly improve knowledge for an almost eightfold gain. Assessing the landscape of limited demographic knowledge is essential to prioritize ways to fill data gaps. Such information is urgently needed to implement management strategies to conserve at-risk taxa and to discover new unifying concepts and evolutionary relationships across thousands of tetrapod species.
Coral reefs sustain abundant and diverse macrocrustaceans that perform multiple ecological roles, but coral reefs are undergoing massive degradation that may be driving changes in the species ...composition and abundance of reef-associated macrocrustaceans. To provide insight into this issue, we used non-destructive visual census techniques to compare the diversity and abundance of conspicuous macrocrustaceans (i.e., those >1 cm and visible without disturbance) between two shallow Caribbean coral reefs similar in size (∼1.5 km in length) and close to each other, but one ("Limones") characterized by extensive stands of the branching coral
, and the other ("Bonanza") dominated by macroalgae and relic coral skeletons and rubble (i.e., degraded). We also assessed the structural complexity of each reef and the percent cover of various benthic community components. Given the type of growth of
, we expected to find a greater structural complexity, a higher cover of live coral, and a lower cover of macroalgae on Limones, and hence a more diverse and abundant macrocrustacean community on this reef compared with Bonanza. Overall, we identified 63 macrocrustacean species (61 Decapoda and two Stomatopoda). Contrary to our expectations, structural complexity did not differ significantly between the back-reef zones of these reefs but varied more broadly on Limones, and the diversity and abundance of macrocrustaceans were higher on Bonanza than on Limones despite live coral cover being higher on Limones and macroalgal cover higher on Bonanza. However, the use of various types of microhabitats by macrocrustaceans differed substantially between reefs. On both reefs, the dominant species were the clinging crab
and the hermit crab
, but the former was more abundant on Bonanza and the latter on Limones.
occupied a diverse array of microhabitats but mostly coral rubble and relic skeletons, whereas
was often, but not always, found associated with colonies of
spp. A small commensal crab of
,
, was far more abundant on Limones, emerging as the main discriminant species between reefs. Our results suggest that local diversity and abundance of reef-associated macrocrustaceans are partially modulated by habitat degradation, the diversity of microhabitat types, and the establishment of different commensal associations rather than by structural complexity alone.
The use of tuned liquid dampers (TLDs) as an alternative to reduce the response of flexible structures with a low amount of structural damping is a viable option. The correct characterization of the ...dynamic properties of the TLD plays an important role in the performance of the TLD-main structure system. This work presents the results of an experimental study to evaluate the dynamic properties of a scaled rectangular TLD using high-speed videos. For the experimental investigation, a scaled rectangular TLD is subjected to lateral displacement of the sinusoidal type with amplitudes that range from 5 to 40 mm and frequency equal to 0.625 Hz. The dynamic properties of the TLD system are identified with the use of high-speed videos with a duration of 28.96 s and recorded at 500 frames per second (fps). The recorded videos are analyzed with the software Tracker to extract time histories of wave elevation at predefined locations. The frequency and damping of the TLD system are identified from the time histories of wave elevation through Fourier analysis and free-vibration decay. The findings of this study revealed that the identified dynamic properties of the TLD by using high-speed videos presented small differences with respect to the target values, with errors that range from 0.93 to 2.9% for frequency and from 1.6 to 8.8% for damping, indicating that the use of high-speed videos can be an alternative to evaluate the dynamic properties of TLD systems.
The analysis of photocatalyst kinetics concerning degradation of water dissolved pollutants with TiO
2 suspensions has been built on for years in a robotic way on the basis of the ...“Langmuir–Hinshelwood” (L–H) model. According to the L–H model the reaction rate is described by the equation: rate
=
k
LH
K
L
M/(1
+
K
L
M), where
K
L is the Langmuir adsorption constant,
k
LH the apparent Langmuir rate constant and
M is the reactant concentration. Even in cases where 1/rate versus 1/
M plots are apparently linear, as predicts the previous equation, it is frequently found that
K
L depends on the illumination flux,
Φ, which contradicts the L–H model premise that equilibrated adsorption/desorption of reactants is maintained under illumination. Moreover, the L–H model does not define the
k
LH dependence on
Φ, so that by itself is unable to predict any existing relationship between
Φ and the reaction rate. Here we describe in detail an alternative kinetic approach, the “Direct–Indirect” (D–I) model, which is based on the degree of electronic interaction of the semiconductor surface with dissolved reactant molecules. The D–I model introduces the systematic use of fundamental concepts like direct, indirect, adiabatic and inelastic interfacial transfer of charge as basic tools, giving a physical meaning to the involved kinetic parameters. Moreover, it is shown to be able to predict the functional dependence of the photooxidation rate on the experimental parameters (photon flux and pollutant concentration), distinguishing between strong (specific adsorption) and weak semiconductor–reactant interaction (absence of specific adsorption). The general believe that OH
radicals, either TiO
2-adsorbed or free, photogenerated from OH
− groups adsorbed on terminal Ti atoms, behave as active species in interfacial oxidation reactions is disregarded by the D–I model, as adsorbed OH
− groups cannot be photooxidized with valence band holes.
serovar Typhimurium (
. Typhimurium) is a Gram-negative bacterium that produces disease in numerous hosts. In mice, oral inoculation is followed by intestinal colonization and subsequent systemic ...dissemination, which leads to severe pathogenesis without the activation of an efficient anti-
immune response. This feature suggests that the infection caused by
. Typhimurium may promote the production of anti-inflammatory molecules by the host that prevent efficient T cell activation and bacterial clearance. In this study, we describe the contribution of immune cells producing the anti-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-10 (IL-10) to the systemic infection caused by
. Typhimurium in mice. We observed that the production of IL-10 was required by
. Typhimurium to cause a systemic disease, since mice lacking IL-10 (IL-10
) were significantly more resistant to die after an infection as compared to wild-type (WT) mice. IL-10
mice had reduced bacterial loads in internal organs and increased levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines in serum at 5 days of infection. Importantly, WT mice showed high bacterial loads in tissues and no increase of cytokines in serum after 5 days of
. Typhimurium infection, except for IL-10. In WT mice, we observed a peak of
messenger RNA production in ileum, spleen, and liver after 5 days of infection. Importantly, the adoptive transfer of T or B cells from WT mice restored the susceptibility of IL-10
mice to systemic
. Typhimurium infection, suggesting that the generation of regulatory cells
is required to sustain a systemic infection by
. Typhimurium. These findings support the notion that IL-10 production from lymphoid cells is a key process in the infective cycle of
. Typhimurium in mice due to generation of a tolerogenic immune response that prevents bacterial clearance and supports systemic dissemination.
Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a group of physiological abnormalities characterized by obesity, insulin resistance (IR), and hypertriglyceridemia, which carry the risk of developing cardiovascular ...disease (CVD) and type 2 diabetes (T2D). Immune and metabolic alterations have been observed in MetS and are associated with autoimmune development. Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease caused by a complex interaction of environmental, hormonal, and genetic factors and hyperactivation of immune cells. Patients with SLE have a high prevalence of MetS, in which elevated CVD is observed. Among the efforts of multidisciplinary healthcare teams to make an early diagnosis, a wide variety of factors have been considered and associated with the generation of biomarkers. This review aimed to elucidate some primary biomarkers and propose a set of assessments to improve the projection of the diagnosis and evolution of patients. These biomarkers include metabolic profiles, cytokines, cardiovascular tests, and microRNAs (miRs), which have been observed to be dysregulated in these patients and associated with outcomes.
A luminescent ruthenium complex bearing two 2,6‐di(quinolin‐8‐yl)‐pyridine carboxylic acid (dqpCOOH) ligands has been successfully synthesised and fully characterised. The new metalloligand has been ...coordinated to zinc ions through the terminal carboxylate groups using a one‐step solvothermal method, to give a multimetallic photoactive 1D coordination polymer, Ru−(dqpCOO)−Zn−(OOCH)2. Through use of X‐ray crystallography, advanced microscopy techniques as well as photophysical studies, we have extensively characterised the coordination polymer. The optical properties of the ruthenium complex and corresponding coordination polymer show that the material experiences a dramatic increase in photostability compared to the free parent metalloligand, in solution. Electrochemical measurements of the coordination polymer also confirm the RuII/RuIII redox couple is maintained in the polymeric network. The development of this material gives a new strategy in the design of novel photoactive materials as multimetallic building blocks for their use in light‐based applications.
Teamwork makes the dream work: Synthesis of a linear, photoactive ruthenium complex has led to the fabrication and crystal structure of a 1D coordination polymer linked between the metalloligand and zinc ions. The coordination polymer exhibits exceptional photostability in comparison to its monomer counterpart. This new metalloligand offers a fresh design strategy for the development of new photoactive supramolecular architectures.
PDF
