A patient with central nervous system involvement of Behçet's disease was refractory to conventional immunosuppressive therapy and showed secondary failure of the anti-TNF agent infliximab. This ...presented as a progressive weakness of the legs and reduction in walking distance. The cerebrospinal fluid showed signs of inflammation including a vastly elevated IL-6 concentration. Given this result, the anti-IL-6 receptor antibody tocilizumab was administered and a good improvement of inflammatory parameters and a satisfactory increase of the walking distance were achieved.
Erythrina speciosa Andrews (Fabaceae) is a native tree of Atlantic forest from Southern and Southeastern Brazil. Although this species is found in flooded areas, it produces highly desiccation ...tolerant seeds. Here, we investigated the physiological and metabolic events occurring during seed maturation of E. speciosa aiming to better understand of its desiccation tolerance acquisition. Seeds were separated into six stages of maturation by the pigmentation of the seed coat. Water potential (WP) and water content (WC) decreased gradually from the first stage to the last stage of maturation (VI), in which seeds reached the highest accumulation of dry mass and seed coat acquired water impermeability. At stage III (71% WC), although seeds were intolerant to desiccation, they were able to germinate (about 15%). Desiccation tolerance was first observed at stage IV (67% WC), in which 40% of seeds were tolerant. At stage V (24% WC), all seeds were tolerant to desiccation and at stage VI all seeds germinated. Increased deposition of the arabinose-containing polysaccharides, which are known as cell wall plasticizers polymers, was observed up to stage IV of seed maturation. Raffinose and stachyose gradually increased in axes and cotyledons with greater increment in the fourth stage. Metabolic profile analysis showed that levels of sugars, organic, and amino acids decrease drastically in embryonic axes, in agreement with lower respiratory rates during maturation. Moreover, a non-aqueous fractionation revealed a change on the proportions of sugar accumulation among cytosol, plastid, and vacuoles between the active metabolism (stage I) and the dormant seeds (stage VI). The results indicate that the physiological maturity of the seeds of E. speciosa is reached at stage V and that the accumulation of raffinose can be a result of the change in the use of carbon, reducing metabolic activity during maturation. This work confirms that raffinose is involved in desiccation tolerance in seeds of E. speciosa, especially considering the different subcellular compartments and suggests even that the acquisition of desiccation tolerance in this species occurs in stages prior to the major changes in WC.
•Nondestructive chemical quantitative analysis of Cu(In,Ga)Se2 by photoluminescence.•Extension to nondestructive Ga depth profile assessment with confocal measurements.•Correlation with Raman ...scattering microcrystalline and phase assessment.•Demonstration of methodologies for monitoring of advanced CIGS PV technologies.
This work reports the optical non-destructive assessment of the relative Ga content in Cu(In,Ga)Se2 absorbers synthesized from electrodeposited precursors using combined photoluminescence (PL) and Raman scattering. Comparison of the PL measurements with the Auger Spectroscopy characterization of the layers has allowed performing a calibration of the dependence of the PL peak energy on the absorber composition. This opens the possibility for the nondestructive chemical assessment of the absorbers synthesized with these low cost processes. Extension of these measurements using a confocal microscope demonstrates their viability for the nondestructive quantitative chemical profiling of the layers. Correlation of these data with Raman spectra measured with the same experimental setup allows deepening in the interpretation of the spectra, giving additional information related to the microcrystalline quality of the layers and the presence of secondary phases.
This study investigated the differences between knitted fabrics made from compact and conventional ring-spun yarns. 100% cotton yarns, produced from the same cotton blend, were spun according to ...compact and conventional ring spinning principles in two different yarn counts and twist factors. Three different knitting structures, i.e., interlock, rib and single jersey, were produced from these yarns. The physical properties of these fabrics were investigated and compared with each other before and after the reactive dyeing process. When the results were examined, it was found that the hairiness of compact yarns was less and the strength and elongation percentages were higher, the fabrics produced with compact yarns showed less tendency to pilling and had a higher bursting strength. No statistical differences were observed with regard to spirality, weight, abrasion resistance, color efficiency and rubbing fastness of the fabrics produced with compact and ring-spun yarns.
Compact spinning is a new version of ring spinning and the most distinct features of these yarns are their high strength and elongation values and low hairiness. In this study, we attempted to find ...the differences between compact and conventional ring knitted fabrics. One hundred % cotton yarns, produced from the same cotton blend, were spun according to compact and conventional ring spinning principles in two different yarns counts and twist multipliers. Three different knitting structures, interlock, rib and single jersey, were produced from these yarns. The physical properties of these fabrics were investigated and compared with each other before and after the printing processes. When the results were studied, it was seen that hairiness of compact yarns was less and their strength and elongation percentages were higher. They showed less tendency to pilling and had higher bursting strength. No statistical differences were observed with regard to weight, abrasion resistance, color efficiency and rubbing fastness.
In many arthropods, such as bushcrickets, males donate protein-rich nuptial gifts—so-called spermatophores—to females, which
females ingest while the sperm enter the female's reproductive tract. ...Previously, it was shown that females route spermatophore
nutrients over the course of hours and days to egg production or body synthesis. We investigated whether female bushcrickets
fuel their metabolism with spermatophores immediately after consumption. We fed two male groups diets that were either enriched
or depleted in, C) of female breath converged on the ratio of the male donor of the nuptial gift. This supports the idea that females quickly
routed nutrients to metabolism, receiving immediate benefits from spermatophore feeding., C, and then tracked the isotopic changes in exhaled breath in female bushcrickets after spermatophore consumption. Within
3 hours, the stable carbon isotope ratio (
Coordination complexes M(O
CCH
OC
H
OMe)
(M = Co, 4; M = Mn, 5) are accessible by the anion exchange reaction between the corresponding metal acetates M(OAc)
(H
O)
(M = Co, 1; M = Mn, 2) and the ...carboxylic acid HO
CCH
OC
H
OMe (3). IR spectroscopy confirms the chelating or μ-bridging binding mode of the carboxylato ligands to M(ii). The molecular structure of 5 in the solid state confirms a distorted octahedral arrangement at Mn(ii), setup by the two carboxylato ligands including their α-ether oxygen atoms, resulting in an overall two-dimensional coordination network. The thermal decomposition behavior of 4 and 5 was studied by TG-MS, revealing that decarboxylation occurs initially giving M(CH
OC
H
OMe)
, which further decomposes by M-C, C-O and C-C bond cleavages. Complexes 4 and 5 were used as CCVD (combustion chemical vapour deposition) precursors for the deposition of Co
O
, crystalline Mn
O
and amorphous Mn
O
thin films on silicon and glass substrates. The deposition experiments were carried out using three different precursor solutions (0.4, 0.6 and 0.8 M) at 400 °C. Depending on the precursor concentration, particulated layers were obtained as evidenced by SEM. The layer thicknesses range from 32 to 170 nm. The rms roughness of the respective films was determined by AFM, displaying that the higher the precursor concentration, the rougher the Co
O
surface is (17.4-43.8 nm), while the manganese oxide films are almost similar (6.2-9.8 nm).
The primary utilization of carbohydrates by cell suspension cultures of Rudgea jasminoides, a native woody Rubiaceae from tropical forests, was investigated. Sucrose, glucose + fructose, glucose, or ...fructose were supplied as carbon sources. The growth curves of R. jasminoides cultured in glucose + fructose, glucose, or fructose showed similar patterns to that observed when sucrose was supplied to the cells, except that an increase in dry mass was observed at the beginning of the stationary growth phase in the media containing only one monosaccharide. The increase in hexose levels in the media during the early stages of the cultures indicated extracellular hydrolysis of sucrose, which was further supported by the increase in the activity of acid invertase bound to the cell wall. Glucose was preferentially taken up, whereas uptake of fructose was delayed until glucose was nearly depleted from the medium. Measurements of intracellular sucrose content and cytoplasmatic and vacuolar invertases indicate that the enzymatic activity seems to be correlated with a decrease in the hexose flux into the cells of R. jasminoides. Our results indicate that the behavior of cell suspension cultures of R. jasminoides regarding sugar utilization seems to be similar to other dicotyledonous undifferentiated cell suspension cultures.
Terrestrial wildlife rabies has been successfully eliminated from Germany predominantly as a result of the distribution of oral rabies vaccine baits. In case that wildlife rabies would re-emerge ...among its known reservoir species in Germany, swift action based on previous experiences could spatially and temporally limit and subsequently control such an outbreak. However, if rabies emerged in the raccoon population in Germany (Procyon lotor), there are no tools or local experience available to cope with this situation. This is especially worrisome for urban areas like Kassel (Hesse) due to the extremely high raccoon population density. A rabies outbreak among this potential reservoir host species in these urban settings could have a significant impact on public and animal health.
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