Highlights • LED light requirements may be related to the evolutionary history of endosymbiosis. • Red or blue LEDs are often the most effective artificial light sources for microalgae. • LED light ...quality influences the growth and biochemistry of microalgae. • LEDs are ideal for building tailored light sources.
This paper presents a solution for the problem of minimum time coverage of ground areas using a group of unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) equipped with image sensors. The solution is divided into two ...parts: (i) the task modeling as a graph whose vertices are geographic coordinates determined in such a way that a single UAV would cover the area in minimum time; and (ii) the solution of a mixed integer linear programming problem, formulated according to the graph variables defined in the first part, to route the team of UAVs over the area. The main contribution of the proposed methodology, when compared with the traditional vehicle routing problem's (VRP) solutions, is the fact that our method solves some practical problems only encountered during the execution of the task with actual UAVs. In this line, one of the main contributions of the paper is that the number of UAVs used to cover the area is automatically selected by solving the optimization problem. The number of UAVs is influenced by the vehicles' maximum flight time and by the setup time, which is the time needed to prepare and launch a UAV. To illustrate the methodology, the paper presents experimental results obtained with two hand-launched, fixed-wing UAVs.
Over the past decade, there have been an increasing number of studies on the association between vitamin D deficiency and anthropometric state. However, we did not identify any meta‐analyses of the ...relationship between obesity and vitamin D deficiency in different age groups. Thus, we evaluated the association between obesity and vitamin D deficiency. We searched for observational studies published up to April 2014 in PubMed/Medline, Web of Science and Scopus databases. We performed a meta‐analysis in accordance with the random‐effects model to obtain the summary measurement (prevalence ratio, PR). Among the 29,882 articles identified, 23 met the inclusion criteria. The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency was 35% higher in obese subjects compared to the eutrophic group (PR: 1.35; 95% CI: 1.21–1.50) and 24% higher than in the overweight group (PR: 1.24; 95% CI: 1.14–1.34). These results indicate that the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency was more elevated in obese subjects. The vitamin D deficiency was associated with obesity irrespective of age, latitude, cut‐offs to define vitamin D deficiency and the Human Development Index of the study location.
The adsorption capacity of ciprofloxacin (CPX) was determined on three types of carbon-based materials: activated carbon (commercial sample), carbon nanotubes (commercial multi-walled carbon ...nanotubes) and carbon xerogel (prepared by the resorcinol/formaldehyde approach at pH 6.0). These materials were used as received/prepared and functionalised through oxidation with nitric acid. The oxidised materials were then heat treated under inert atmosphere (N2) at different temperatures (between 350 and 900°C). The obtained samples were characterised by adsorption of N2 at −196°C, determination of the point of zero charge and by temperature programmed desorption. High adsorption capacities ranging from approximately 60 to 300mgCPxgC−1 were obtained (for oxidised carbon xerogel, and oxidised thermally treated activated carbon Norit ROX 8.0, respectively). In general, it was found that the nitric acid treatment of samples has a detrimental effect in adsorption capacity, whereas thermal treatments, especially at 900°C after oxidation, enhance adsorption performance. This is due to the positive effect of the surface basicity. The kinetic curves obtained were fitted using 1st or 2nd order models, and the Langmuir and Freundlich models were used to describe the equilibrium isotherms obtained. The 2nd order and the Langmuir models, respectively, were shown to present the best fittings.
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►The adsorption capacity of ciprofloxacin was determined on carbon-based materials. ►Functionalised activated carbons, carbon nanotubes and carbon xerogels were compared. ►High adsorption capacities ranging from ∼60 to ∼300mgCPx/gC were obtained. ►The acid treatment is detrimental whereas thermal treatments enhance adsorption. ►Activated carbon treated at 900°C showed the best result due to the surface basicity.
The efficacy of vitamin D3 supplementation in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) remains unclear.
To investigate the effect of a single high dose of vitamin D3 on hospital length of stay in patients ...with COVID-19.
This was a multicenter, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial conducted in 2 sites in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The study included 240 hospitalized patients with COVID-19 who were moderately to severely ill at the time of enrollment from June 2, 2020, to August 27, 2020. The final follow-up was on October 7, 2020.
Patients were randomly assigned to receive a single oral dose of 200 000 IU of vitamin D3 (n = 120) or placebo (n = 120).
The primary outcome was length of stay, defined as the time from the date of randomization to hospital discharge. Prespecified secondary outcomes included mortality during hospitalization; the number of patients admitted to the intensive care unit; the number of patients who required mechanical ventilation and the duration of mechanical ventilation; and serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D, total calcium, creatinine, and C-reactive protein.
Of 240 randomized patients, 237 were included in the primary analysis (mean SD age, 56.2 14.4 years; 104 43.9% women; mean SD baseline 25-hydroxyvitamin D level, 20.9 9.2 ng/mL). Median (interquartile range) length of stay was not significantly different between the vitamin D3 (7.0 4.0-10.0 days) and placebo groups (7.0 5.0-13.0 days) (log-rank P = .59; unadjusted hazard ratio for hospital discharge, 1.07 95% CI, 0.82-1.39; P = .62). The difference between the vitamin D3 group and the placebo group was not significant for in-hospital mortality (7.6% vs 5.1%; difference, 2.5% 95% CI, -4.1% to 9.2%; P = .43), admission to the intensive care unit (16.0% vs 21.2%; difference, -5.2% 95% CI, -15.1% to 4.7%; P = .30), or need for mechanical ventilation (7.6% vs 14.4%; difference, -6.8% 95% CI, -15.1% to 1.2%; P = .09). Mean serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D significantly increased after a single dose of vitamin D3 vs placebo (44.4 ng/mL vs 19.8 ng/mL; difference, 24.1 ng/mL 95% CI, 19.5-28.7; P < .001). There were no adverse events, but an episode of vomiting was associated with the intervention.
Among hospitalized patients with COVID-19, a single high dose of vitamin D3, compared with placebo, did not significantly reduce hospital length of stay. The findings do not support the use of a high dose of vitamin D3 for treatment of moderate to severe COVID-19.
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04449718.
This article provides a review about mycotoxins occurrence in cereals and cereal foodstuffs, and analytical methods proposed for their determination from 2008 to the present. Special attention was ...given to recent developments in sample preparation and chromatographic approaches for mycotoxins identification/quantification. Recent information on occurrence and determination of conjugated mycotoxins was also reviewed. For the first time a review is done about mycotoxins occurrence in cereals and derived products published in the last years, together with the recent improvements regarding methods for their quantification. This review gives a good insight about the progress that has been done in the last years and points the path to further research needed.
•Occurrence of mycotoxins in cereals and cereal products.•Analytical features of relevant papers published since 2008.•Critical evaluation of sample-preparation extraction techniques.•Critical evaluation of chromatographic methods.•Advances in analysis of conjugated mycotoxins.
The aim of this work is to understand the inactivation efficiency of medium pressure mercury lamps, measured in terms of growth inhibition as well as cell death, damage and response, using three ...strains from three different Aspergillus species (A. fumigatus, A. niger and, A. terreus) spiked in filtered surface water. A complete characterization of the effect of the treatment on each strain of the fungal species was assessed considering spores' morphology, cell wall integrity and enzymatic activity, the formation of pyrimidine dimers in the DNA and proteome analysis. Results showed that, when subjected to medium pressure mercury lamps, A. niger is the most resistant to inactivation, that both A. fumigatus and A. niger suffer more morphological changes and present a higher number of damaged spores and A. terreus presented more dead spores. DNA damages detected in A. niger were able to be repaired to some extent, under both light and dark conditions. Finally, proteome analysis showed that the UV radiation treatment triggered different types of stress response, including cell wall reorganization and DNA repair in A. fumigatus and A. terreus, and oxidative stress responses like the increase in production of citric acid and itaconic acid in A. niger and A. terreus, respectively.
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•Inactivation of different Aspergillus species was conducted using MP lamps.•DNA damages assessment was only possible for A. niger.•MP radiation triggered different proteome responses in the Aspergillus species.•Novel insights on the inactivation mechanisms of Aspergillus species by MP lamps.
We present CO(2−1) and adjacent continuum observations of seven nearby radio-quiet type-2 quasars (QSO2s) obtained with ALMA at ∼0.2″ resolution (370 pc at
z
∼ 0.1). These QSO2s are luminous (
L
...OIII
> 10
8.5
L
⊙
∼
M
B
< −23), and their host galaxies massive (
M
*
∼ 10
11
M
⊙
). The CO morphologies are diverse, including disks and interacting systems. Two of the QSO2s are red early-type galaxies with no CO(2–1) detected. In the interacting galaxies, the central kiloparsec contains 18–25% of the total cold molecular gas, whereas in the spirals it is only ∼5–12%. J1010+0612 and J1430+1339 show double-peaked CO flux maps along the major axis of the CO disks that do not have an optical counterpart at the same angular resolution. Based on our analysis of the ionized and molecular gas kinematics and millimeter continuum emission, these CO morphologies are most likely produced by active galactic nucleus (AGN) feedback in the form of outflows, jets, and/or shocks. The CO kinematics of the QSO2s with CO(2−1) detections are dominated by rotation but also reveal noncircular motions. According to our analysis, these noncircular motions correspond to molecular outflows that are mostly coplanar with the CO disks in four of the QSO2s, and either to a coplanar inflow or vertical outflow in the case of J1010+0612. These outflows represent 0.2–0.7% of the QSO2s’ total molecular gas mass and have maximum velocities of 200–350 km s
−1
, radii from 0.4 to 1.3 kpc, and outflow mass rates of 8–16
M
⊙
yr
−1
. These outflow properties are intermediate between those of the mild molecular outflows measured for Seyfert galaxies and the fast and energetic outflows shown by ultra-luminous infrared galaxies. This suggests that it is not only AGN luminosity that drives massive molecular outflows. Other factors such as jet power, coupling between winds, jets, and/or ionized outflows and the CO disks, and amount or geometry of dense gas in the nuclear regions might also be relevant. Thus, although we do not find evidence for a significant impact of quasar feedback on the total molecular gas reservoirs and star formation rates, it appears to be modifying the distribution of cold molecular gas in the central kiloparsec of the galaxies.
Light scattering, whether caused by desired or spurious elements, is considered one of the main phenomena that present great challenges for the nonlinear (NL) optical characterization of turbid ...media. The most relevant disturbing factor is the random deformation suffered by the spatial intensity distribution of the laser beam due to multiple scattering. In this work, we report the intensity correlation scan (IC-scan) technique as a new tool to characterize the NL optical response of scattering media, by taking advantage of light scattering to generate speckle patterns sensitive to wavefront changes induced by the self-focusing and self-defocusing effects. Peak-to-valley transmittance curves, with a higher signal-to-noise ratio, are obtained by analyzing the spatial intensity correlation functions of the different speckle patterns, even in very turbid media where conventional NL spectroscopy techniques fail. To demonstrate the potential of the IC-scan technique, the NL characterization of colloids that contain a high concentration of silica nanospheres as scatterers, as well as gold nanorods, which act as NL particles and light scatterers, was performed. The results show that the IC-scan technique is more accurate, precise and robust to measure NL refractive indices in turbid media, overcoming limitations imposed by well-established Z-scan and D4σ techniques.
The limited efficacy of benznidazole (Bz) indicated by failures of current Phase II clinical trials emphasizes the urgent need to identify new drugs with improved safety and efficacy for treatment of ...Chagas disease (CD). Herein, we analyzed the efficacy of a series of 2-hydroxy-3-phenylsulfanylmethyl-1,4-naphthoquinones against different Trypanosoma cruzi discrete type units (DTUs) of relevant clinical forms of CD. Cytotoxic and trypanocidal effect of naphthoquinone derivatives were assessed in mammalian cells, trypomastigotes and intracellular amastigotes using, luminescent assays (CellTiter-Glo and T. cruzi Dm28c-luciferase) and/or counting with a light microscope. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and intracellular targets of promising compounds were assessed with 2′,7′-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate (H2DCFDA) probe and ultrastructural analysis, respectively. ADMET properties were analyzed by in silico modeling. Most of the compounds showed low cytotoxic effect. Only two compounds (Compounds 2 and 11) had IC50 values lower than Bz, showing higher susceptibility of bloodstream trypomastigotes. Compound 2 exhibited greater efficacy against trypomastigotes from different T. cruzi DTUs, even better than Bz against Brazil and CL strains. Ultrastructural analysis revealed changes in intracellular compartments, suggesting autophagy as one possible mechanism of action. Oxidative stress, induced by Compound 2, resulted in elevated level of ROS, leading to parasite death. Compound 2 was also effective against intracellular amastigotes, showing high selectivity index. ADMET analysis predicted good oral bioavailability, reduced drug metabolism and no carcinogenic potential for Compound 2. The data highlight Compound 2 as a hit compound and stimulate further structural and pharmacological optimization to potentiate its trypanocidal activity and selectivity.
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•Biological activity of 1,4-naphthoquinone derivatives against Trypanosoma cruzi.•Compound 2 showed good efficacy against T. cruzi DTUs.•Compound 2 significantly enhance the intracellular ROS level.•In silico promising ADMET properties.
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