Currently there is an increasing interest in data mining and educational systems, making educational data mining as a new growing research community. This paper surveys the application of data mining ...to traditional educational systems, particular web-based courses, well-known learning content management systems, and adaptive and intelligent web-based educational systems. Each of these systems has different data source and objectives for knowledge discovering. After preprocessing the available data in each case, data mining techniques can be applied: statistics and visualization; clustering, classification and outlier detection; association rule mining and pattern mining; and text mining. The success of the plentiful work needs much more specialized work in order for educational data mining to become a mature area.
The tailor-made character of deep eutectic solvents (DES) turns them very attractive to be used in several applications, including in health-related areas such as pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, and ...cosmetic industries. However, although DES has been touted as "green" solvents, several works proved that their potential toxicity should not be neglected. Using the premise of DES applicability in the cosmetic and pharmaceutical sectors, we chose two cell lines to work as a skin model (keratinocytes HaCaT and tumor melanocytes MNT-1), to assess DES cytotoxicity. The effect of three different hydrogen bond acceptors (HBA) (CholCl, N
Cl and N
Cl) and three different hydrogen bond donors (HBD) (hexanoic and butanoic acid, ethylene glycol, 1-propanol and urea) were evaluated through a common viability assay (MTT assay). Results were promising since CholCl and N
Cl- based DES showed good biocompatibility for the tested cells. N
Cl-based DES, however, showed cytotoxicity for both cell lines, with the HBA being the driver of the toxicity. Interestingly, some compounds increased cell viability in the HaCaT cell line, namely CholCl, ethylene glycol, hexanoic acid, urea, and all CholCl and N
Cl-based DES and should be considered as targets for future studies. These results highlight their possible use in cosmetic or pharmaceutical formulations.
Polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) is a sought‐after alternative biopolymer to synthetics with its high biodegradability and similar properties to available polymers. However, its high production cost narrows ...its market application. In this study, cheap, biocompatible, and widely available fillers such as cellulose (CL) and calcium carbonate (CC) were incorporated into PHB using a heat‐assisted solution casting method to reduce the manufacturing cost of the bioplastic while retaining its properties. Characterization tests found that both natural fillers have relatively low miscibility with PHB which may be accounted for by self‐ and co‐agglomeration of the fillers while having improved thermal stability. The Young's modulus of the bioplastic films increased with the introduction of CC, while the mechanical property slightly decreased upon the addition of CL attributing to the aggregation of fillers. Full biodegradation of all composites within 8 weeks was observed in the compost biodegradability tests; PHB 90 CC 10 biodegraded the slowest after the 50th day, while PHB 90 CL 10 fully disintegrated after the 30th day. Further improvements such as the incorporation of cheap, naturally derived crosslinkers or plasticizers can greatly improve the properties of the synthesized biocomposites.
PHB/CC/CL composites synthesized using heat‐assisted solvation method.
The therapeutic effectiveness of a drug largely depends on its bioavailability, and thus ultimately on its aqueous solubility. Hydrotropes are compounds able to enhance the solubility of hydrophobic ...substances in aqueous media and therefore are extensively used in the formulation of drugs and personal care products. Recently, some ionic liquids were shown to display a strong ability to enhance the solubility of biomolecules through hydrotropy. In this work, the impact of the ionic liquid chemical structures and their concentration on the solubility of ibuprofen was evaluated and compared with the performance of conventional hydrotropes. The results obtained clearly evidence the exceptional capacity of ionic liquids to enhance the solubility of ibuprofen. C
C
imSCN and C
C
imN(CN)
seem to be the most promising ionic liquids for ibuprofen solubilisation, where an increase in the solubility of 60- and 120-fold was observed with ionic liquid concentrations of circa 1 mol kg
, respectively. Dynamic light scattering and molecular dynamics simulations were used to investigate the mechanism of the IL-mediated drug solubility and the results obtained indicate that the structure of aqueous solutions of ionic liquids and the role it plays in the formation of ionic liquid-drug aggregates is the mechanism driving the hydrotropic dissolution.
Building Information Modelling (BIM) represents a long-term investment that could allow time reduction and a cost enhancement by means of optimised design and construction processes. The paper ...focuses on the first official Italian Public Pilot Project, dealing with the implementation of BIM-based validation and construction optimisation in a construction process. The case study concerns a residential building located in a dense urban district, causing a confined construction site affected by space shortage and coordination issues. The research aims to implement an interoperable IFC-based process in order to support the design and construction phases, performing advanced Model and Code Checking and analysing the construction phase through 4D BIM. Architectural, structural, and MEP models have been enriched with alphanumeric attributes as required by semi-automatic validation processes. An auto-matching between BIM objects and construction activities was also achieved. The early results showed the possibility of a BIM-based semi-automatic validation of design choices and an improved coordination between design disciplines. Moreover, the construction site simulation allowed the comparison of different layout options and baseline schedules. The research also tested the joint use of Model Checking and 4D BIM tools in order to analyse construction progresses by exporting an IFC-based construction site configuration directly from the 4D BIM tool. The tested process created an open, interoperable, and multi-disciplinary approach. The main findings concerning the domestic special constraints are described and analysed.
•The first official Italian BIM Pilot Project for a Public Client is described.•BIM was implemented between the detailed design phase and the construction one.•An IFC-based BIM environment was set up to implement Model Checking and 4D BIM.•Benefits and limits of BIM implementation in traditional approaches are described.
Abstract Here, we propose a collagen-based three-dimensional (3D) environment for hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HPC) with mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) derived either from bone marrow (BM) ...or umbilical cord (UC), to recapitulate the main components of the BM niche. Mechanisms described for HPC homeostasis were systematically analyzed in comparison to the conventional liquid HPC culture. The 3D-cultivation allows dissecting two sub-populations of HPC: (I) HPC in suspension above the collagen gel and (II) migratory HPC in the collagen fibres of the collagen gel. The different sites represent distinct microenvironments with significant impact on HPC fate. HPC in niche I (suspension) are proliferative and a dynamic culture containing HPC (CD34+ /CD38- ), maturing myeloid cells (CD38+ , CD13+ , CAE+ ) and natural killer (NK) cells (CD56+ ). In contrast, HPC in niche II showed clonal growth with significant high levels of the primitive CD34+ /CD38- phenotype with starting myeloid (CD13+ , CAE+ ) differentiation, resembling the endosteal part of the BM niche. In contrast, UC-MSC are not adequate for HSC expansion as they significantly enhance HPC proliferation and lineage commitment. In conclusion, the 3D-culture system using collagen and BM-MSC enables HPC expansion and provides a potential platform to dissect regulatory mechanisms in hematopoiesis.
Abstract Expansion of multipotent, undifferentiated and proliferating cord blood (CB)-hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) in vitro is limited and insufficient. Bone marrow (BM) engineering in vitro allows ...mimicking the main components of the hematopoietic niche compared to conventional expansion strategies. In this study, four different 3D biomaterial scaffolds (PCL, PLGA, fibrin and collagen) were tested for freshly isolated cord blood (CB)-CD34+ cell expansion in presence of (i) efficient exogenous cytokine supplementation and (ii) umbilical cord (UC)-mesenchymal stem cells (MSC). Cell morphology, growth and proliferation were analyzed in vitro as well as multi-organ engraftment and multilineage differentiation in a murine transplantation model. All scaffolds, except 3D PLGA meshes, supported CB-CD34+ cell expansion, which was additionally stimulated by UC-MSC support. CB-CD34+ cells cultured on human-derived 3D fibrin scaffolds with UC-MSC support i) reached the highest overall growth (5 × 108 -fold expansion of total nuclear cells after fourteen days and 3 × 107 -fold expansion of CD34+ cells after seven days, p < 0.001), ii) maintained a more primitive immunophenotype for more cell divisions, iii) exhibited superior morphological, migratory and adhesive properties, and iv) showed the significantly highest numbers of engraftment and multilineage differentiation (CD45, CD34, CD13, CD3 and CD19) in BM, spleen and peripheral blood in long-term transplanted NSG mice compared to the other 3D biomaterial scaffolds. Thus, the 3D fibrin scaffold based BM-mimicry strategy reveals optimal requirements for translation into clinical protocols for CB expansion and transplantation.
Clonal hematopoiesis (CH) is associated with age and an increased risk of myeloid malignancies, cardiovascular risk, and all-cause mortality. We tested for CH in a setting where hematopoietic stem ...cells (HSCs) of the same individual are exposed to different degrees of proliferative stress and environments, ie, in long-term survivors of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) and their respective related donors (n = 42 donor-recipient pairs). With a median follow-up time since allo-HSCT of 16 years (range, 10-32 years), we found a total of 35 mutations in 23 out of 84 (27.4%) study participants. Ten out of 42 donors (23.8%) and 13 out of 42 recipients (31%) had CH. CH was associated with older donor and recipient age. We identified 5 cases of donor-engrafted CH, with 1 case progressing into myelodysplastic syndrome in both donor and recipient. Four out of 5 cases showed increased clone size in recipients compared with donors. We further characterized the hematopoietic system in individuals with CH as follows: (1) CH was consistently present in myeloid cells but varied in penetrance in B and T cells; (2) colony-forming units (CFUs) revealed clonal evolution or multiple independent clones in individuals with multiple CH mutations; and (3) telomere shortening determined in granulocytes suggested ∼20 years of added proliferative history of HSCs in recipients compared with their donors, with telomere length in CH vs non-CH CFUs showing varying patterns. This study provides insight into the long-term behavior of the same human HSCs and respective CH development under different proliferative conditions.
•CH, including donor-engrafted CH, is highly prevalent among donors and recipients long-term after allo-HSCT.•CH clones variably expand at different levels of the hematopoietic hierarchy and can clonally evolve into subclones.
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This study elucidated the importance of two critical enzymes in the regulation of butanol production in
Clostridium acetobutylicum
ATCC 824. Overexpression of both the 6-phosphofructokinase (
pfkA
) ...and pyruvate kinase (
pykA
) genes increased intracellular concentrations of ATP and NADH and also resistance to butanol toxicity. Marked increases of butanol and ethanol production, but not acetone, were also observed in batch fermentation. The butanol and ethanol concentrations were 29.4 and 85.5 % higher, respectively, in the fermentation by double-overexpressed
C. acetobutylicum
ATCC 824/
pfkA
+
pykA
than the wild-type strain. Furthermore, when fed-batch fermentation using glucose was carried out, the butanol and total solvent (acetone, butanol, and ethanol) concentrations reached as high as 19.12 and 28.02 g/L, respectively. The reason for improved butanol formation was attributed to the enhanced NADH and ATP concentrations and increased tolerance to butanol in the double-overexpressed strain.
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