The skin possesses a photosensitive system comprised of opsins whose function is not fully understood, and clock genes which exert an important regulatory role in skin biology. Here, we evaluated the ...presence of opsins in normal (Melan-a cells) and malignant (B16–F10 cells) murine melanocytes. Both cell lines express Opn2, Opn4 – for the first time reported in these cell types – as well as S-opsin. OPN4 protein was found in a small area capping the cell nuclei of B16–F10 cells kept in constant dark (DD); twenty-four hours after the white light pulse (WLP), OPN4 was found in the cell membrane. Despite the fact that B16–F10 cells expressed less Opn2 and Opn4 than Melan-a cells, our data indicate that the malignant melanocytes exhibited increased photoresponsiveness. The clock gene machinery is also severely downregulated in B16–F10 cells as compared to Melan-a cells. Per1, Per2, and Bmal1 expression increased in B16–F10 cells in response to WLP. Although no response in clock gene expression to WLP was observed in Melan-a cells, gene correlational data suggest a minor effect of WLP. In contrast to opsins and clock genes, melanogenesis is significantly upregulated in malignant melanocytes in comparison to Melan-a cells. Tyrosinase expression increased after WLP only in B16–F10 cells; however no increase in melanin content after WLP was seen in either cell line. Our findings may prove useful in the treatment and the development of new pharmacological approaches of depigmentation diseases and skin cancer.
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•Opsins and clock genes are downregulated in melanoma in comparison to melanocytes.•White light pulse triggers OPN4 migration from cytoplasm to cell membrane in melanoma.•White light pulse activates clock genes in melanoma but not in melanocytes.•Melanogenesis is upregulated in melanoma cells as compared to melanocytes.•These findings may be proven useful to treat depigmentary diseases and skin cancer.
The preparation of fluorene(bisthiophene)-based fluorescent nanofibers for nitroaromatic explosive detection provides a convenient rapid and low-cost strategy aiming at forensic applications. ...Polycaprolactone (PCL) and fluorene(bisthiophene) derivative (FBT) nanofibers were obtained by electrospinning technique as a free-standing mat and characterized by SEM, FTIR, thermal analysis and fluorescence spectroscopy. The PCL/FBT nanofibers presented high sensitivity towards 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) and picric acid (PA), with fluorescence quenching (turn-off mechanism), and selectivity to another kind of explosives. The free-standing mats were used as a cloth strip that was swiped on surfaces contaminated with TNT traces allowing its visual detection under UV light source. These findings are particularly important for the development of a facile and promising strategy to assembly portable optical devices for nitroaromatic explosive detection.
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•Polymer nanofibers based on poly(caprolactone) and fluorene(bisthiophene) derivative have been successfully prepared.•Fluorescent nanofiber mats are useful as material for nitroaromatic explosives detection.•The strategy consists in fluorescence quenching of PCL/FBT mats after exposure to nitroaromatic explosive residues.•Low-cost and free-standing fluorescent nanofibers formation are some of the advantages of the methodology.•PCL/FBT nanofibers presented high efficiency quenching after interaction with TNT and PA.
•Fluorescent bilayer systems based on conjugated polymers were successfully prepared.•Bilayer systems were useful for development of latent fingerprint on stainless steel.•The strategy allows ...fingerprint visualization by using visible and/or UV light sources.•Bilayer systems present several advantages over conventional development methods.•The images obtained allowed identification of details of fingerprint patterns.
Fingerprints are a key role in criminal investigations and are the most commonly used form of physical evidence for identifying criminals or to establish a connection between crime scenes. However, visualizing latent (hidden) fingerprints is steal a great challenge, mainly when they are present on metallic surfaces. In this work, a new concept based on the electrodeposition of bilayer systems based on conjugated and fluorescent polymers was used for the development of latent fingerprints on stainless steel. The first layer of Polypyrrole or PEDOY was electrodeposited onto the surface containing a latent fingerprint by oxidation of the monomer in LiClO4 aqueous solution. The second layer of a fluorescent Poly(2,2′:5′,2″-terthiophene) was electrodeposited onto the first layer by using a solution of (C4H9)4NBF4/CH3CN. Such bilayer systems showed fluorescent properties and may be applied in forensic biometry for development of latent fingerprints on stainless steel, since this strategy affords images with high definition in both visible and UV light, permitting the recognition of the ridge patterns and singular points in order to be used for confrontation with other dactyloscopy images.
In this work, we establish some abstract results on the perspective of the fractional Musielak–Sobolev spaces, such as: uniform convexity, Radon–Riesz property with respect to the modular function,
(
...S
+
)
-property, Brezis–Lieb type Lemma to the modular function and monotonicity results. Moreover, we apply the theory developed to study the existence of solutions to the following class of nonlocal problems
(
-
Δ
)
Φ
x
,
y
s
u
=
f
(
x
,
u
)
,
in
Ω
,
u
=
0
,
on
R
N
\
Ω
,
where
N
≥
2
,
Ω
⊂
R
N
is a bounded domain with Lipschitz boundary
∂
Ω
and
f
:
Ω
×
R
→
R
is a Carathéodory function not necessarily satisfying the Ambrosetti–Rabinowitz condition. Such class of problems enables the presence of many particular operators, for instance, the fractional operator with variable exponent, double-phase and double-phase with variable exponent operators, anisotropic fractional
p
-Laplacian, among others.
Background
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to abrupt restrictions of lile-space mobility. The impact of shelter-in-place orders on older adults’ health and well-being is still unclear.
Objective
To ...investigate the relationship between life-space mobility and quality of life (QoL) in older adults with and without frailty during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Design
Multicenter prospective cohort study based on structured telephone interviews.
Setting
Four geriatric outpatient clinics in the metropolitan area of Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Participants
557 community-dwelling adults aged 60 years and older.
Measurements
The Life-Space Assessment was used to measure community mobility before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, and a previously validated decrease of ≥ 5 points defined restricted life-space mobility. Frailty was assessed through the FRAIL (fatigue, resistance, ambulation, illnesses, and loss of weight) scale. The impact of shelter-in-place orders on QoL was evaluated with the question «How is the COVID-19 pandemic affecting your QoL?», to which participants could respond «not at all», «to some extent», or «to a great extent». We used ordinal logistic regressions to investigate the relationship between restricted life-space mobility and impact on QoL, adjusting our analyses for demographics, frailty, comorbidities, cognition, functionality, loneliness, depression, and anxiety. We explored whether frailty modified the association between life-space mobility and impact on QoL.
Results
Participants were on average 80±8 years old, 65% were women, and 33% were frail. The COVID-19 quarantine led to a restriction of community mobility in 79% of participants and affected the QoL for 77% of participants. We found that restricted life-space mobility was associated with impact on QoL in older adults during the pandemic, although frailty modified the magnitude of the association (P-value for interaction=0.03). Frail participants who experienced restricted life-space mobility had twice the odds of reporting an impact on QoL when compared with non-frail individuals, with respective adjusted odds ratios of 4.20 (95% CI=2.36–7.50) and 2.18 (95% CI=1.33–3.58).
Conclusion
Older adults experienced substantial decreases in life-space mobility during the COVID-19 pandemic, and this unexpected change impacted their QoL. Providers should be particularly watchful for the consequences of abrupt life-space restrictions on frail individuals.
The Mercedes water Cherenkov detector Assis, P.; Bakalová, A.; Barres de Almeida, U. ...
The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields,
10/2022, Letnik:
82, Številka:
10
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
The concept of a small, single-layer water Cherenkov detector, with three photomultiplier tubes (PMTs), placed at its bottom in a
120
∘
star configuration (
Mercedes
Water Cherenkov Detector) is ...presented. The PMTs are placed near the lateral walls of the stations with an adjustable inclination and may be installed inside or outside the water volume. To illustrate the technical viability of this concept and obtain a first-order estimation of its cost, an engineering design was elaborated. The sensitivity of these stations to low energy Extensive Air Shower (EAS) electrons, photons and muons is discussed, both in compact and sparse array configurations. It is shown that the analysis of the intensity and time patterns of the PMT signals, using machine learning techniques, enables the tagging of muons, achieving an excellent gamma/hadron discrimination for TeV showers. This concept minimises the station production and maintenance costs, allowing for a highly flexible and fast installation. Mercedes Water Cherenkov Detectors (WCDs) are thus well-suited for use in high-altitude large gamma-ray observatories covering an extended energy range from the low energies, closing the gap between satellite and ground-based measurements, to very high energy regions, beyond the PeV scale.
This paper presents the modeling of some protective relays commonly used in generation and transmission systems, and their integration in three-phase RMS dynamic simulation tool. The three-phase ...models of the network and the power apparatuses, utilizing phase frame representation, enlarges the possibility to better represent the protection systems, since the relays involving ground and neutral circuitry can be modeled. The network can be modeled with a node-breaker topology representation, facilitating the integration of protecting relays and the switchgear. The relay modeling framework can also be used in positive-sequence RMS dynamic simulation tools with few adjustments in the measured quantities. Simulation results in realistic small and large-scale systems showing the performance of the proposed relay modeling framework and a comparison with an EMT tool are presented.
This study aimed to evaluate viral and bacterial contamination from typical Brazilian cheeses, such as Minas (fresh) and Prato (ripened), commercially obtained in the Greater Metropolitan Region of ...the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Minas 30, Prato 30 and sliced Prato 30 cheese samples were investigated for norovirus genogroup I and II (NoV GI-II) and human adenovirus (HAdV) by direct nucleic acid extraction using TRIzol and amplification by TaqMan based quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella spp., coagulase-positive staphylococci (CPS) and fecal coliforms were also assessed by using standard counting methods. NoV GI and GII were detected in one sample (1.1%) each and HAdV in nine samples (10.0%) while bacteriological analysis revealed five samples (5.5%) contaminated with L. monocytogenes, 27 (30.0%) with fecal coliforms and 10 (11.1%) with CPS. Salmonella spp. was not detected in any sample. Viruses were detected in 11 samples (12.2%), of which 9 met the microbiological criteria used to evaluate the microbiological quality of the cheeses, stressing the importance of considering virological parameters for monitoring this food matrix.
Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is a rare autoimmune liver disease that is characterised by a chronic inflammatory immune reaction directed against hepatocytes. The disease results in a substantial ...reduction in quality of life and potentially leads to liver‐related complications or death. The International Autoimmune Hepatitis Group (IAIHG) initiated a series of research workshops to uncover the scientific gaps and opportunities in AIH. This review summarises the results of the latest workshop in Maastricht in 2022 and reviews the current challenges in adult AIH, particularly in relation to four important aspects of AIH: diagnostics; new immunomodulatory therapies; clinical trial design; and unmet clinical needs. This review also summarises the progress made since the AIH workshop in 2017. Patients and patient representatives were actively involved in the parallel working groups alongside clinicians and researchers. Despite 40 years of experience with diagnosing and treating AIH, false diagnoses occur and treatment is still based on nonselective immunosuppression. In addition to the need for more specific diagnostic tests, prognostic markers and tailor‐based treatments, a major unmet clinical need was identified in areas of care delivery and health‐related quality of life.
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