Preparation and thermal properties of polyethylene terephthalate/huntite–hydromagnesite composites

In this report, it was aimed to the improve thermal stability of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) by adding huntite/hydromagnesite minerale. PET/huntite/hydromagnesite composites were prepared by adding various proportions of huntite/hydromagnesite to PET. The chemical structures of the composites were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X‐ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. Thermal properties of the composites were determined by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Glass‐transition temperatures and char yields increased with the increase of the huntite/hydromagnesite content in the composites. The surface morphologies of the composites were investigated by a scanning electron microscopy. The obtained results proved that the composite system is more thermally stable than the pure PET itself. POLYM. COMPOS., 37:3275–3279, 2016. © 2015 Society of Plastics Engineers

Initiation of 2‐Hydroxyethyl Methacrylate Polymerization by Tert‐Butyl Peroxide in a Planar PECVD System

This article reports on the deposition conditions and characterization of poly(2‐hydroxyethyl methacrylate) thin films grown by initiated plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition process. The plasma power is inductively coupled into the process chamber with a planar‐coil antenna through a quartz window, and the substrate is cooled to promote physical adsorption of monomers on its surface. The introduction of the initiator allowed for film deposition at very low plasma powers (1 W) and greatly improves the deposition rates. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analyses confirmed that the chemical functionalities of the monomers are preserved to a good extent during the depositions that were carried out at low plasma powers. The deposition kinetics of PECVD‐produced films from HEMA can be tailored by varying the substrate temperature. The apparent activation energies observed from PHEMA deposition kinetics with varying substrate temperatures are observed to be negative, which supports the hypothesis of the free radical polymerization mechanism in the PECVD PHEMA deposition.

Intelligence Systems in Environmental Management: Theory and Applications

Wastewater management is a complex task involving a wide range of technical environmental and social factors. Furthermore, it typically requires the coordination of a heterogeneous society of actors with different goals. Regulations and protocols can be effectively used to tackle this complexity. In this chapter we present a norm-aware multi-agent system for social simulations in a river basin. The norms we present are inspired in European policies for wastewater management and they can evolve through time.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Inverse Magnetic Catalysis from improved Holographic QCD in the Veneziano limit

We study the dependence of the chiral condensate on external magnetic fieldin the context of holographic QCD at large number of flavors. We consider aholographic QCD model where the flavor degrees of freedom fully backreact onthe color dynamics. Perturbative QCD calculations have shown that $B$ actsconstructively on the chiral condensate, a phenomenon called "magneticcatalysis". In contrast, recent lattice calculations show that, depending onthe number of flavors and temperature, the magnetic field may also actdestructively, which is called "inverse magnetic catalysis". Here we show thatthe holographic theory is capable of both behaviors depending on the choice ofparameters. For reasonable choice of the potentials entering the model we findqualitative agreement with the lattice expectations. Our results provideinsight for the physical reasons behind the inverse magnetic catalysis. Inparticular, we argue that the backreaction of the flavors to the backgroundgeometry decatalyzes the condensate.

Erratum to: Bone density in proton pump inhibitors users: a prospective study

Symbiotic organisms search optimization algorithm for economic/emission dispatch problem in power systems

This paper presents symbiotic organisms search (SOS) algorithm to solve economic emission load dispatch (EELD) problem for thermal generators in power systems. The basic objective of the EELD is to minimize both minimum operating costs and emission levels, while satisfying the load demand and all equality–inequality constraints. In other research direction, this multi-objective problem is converted into single-objective function by using price penalty factor approach in order to solve it with SOS. The proposed algorithm has been implemented on various test cases, with different constraints and various cost curve nature. In order to see the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm, its results are compared to those reported in the recent literature. The results of the algorithms indicate that SOS gives good results in both systems and very competitive with the state of the art for the solution of the EELD problems.

Alveolar bone loss in relation to toll-like receptor 4 and 9 genotypes and Porphyromonas gingivalis carriage

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are highly developed sensors to detect microbe-associated molecular patterns. Functional polymorphisms of the genes TLR4 and TLR9 were found to be associated with alveolar bone loss in a Porphyromonas gingivalis-induced periodontitis model in mice. Our aim was to examine whether such an association can be detected in a group of Finnish adults. Polymorphisms of TLR4 Asp299Gly (rs4986790) and TLR9 rs187084 (1486 T/C) were genotyped by pyrosequencing and PCR from the saliva samples of 223 adults (age range 40-60 years). Alveolar bone loss, measured from panoramic radiographs, were compared between TLR genotype groups according to subjects' salivary carriage of P. gingivalis, measured using a single copy gene-based real-time PCR. The frequencies of TLR4 wild type and heterozygote variants were 87.4 % and 12.6 %, respectively, while those of TLR9 wild type, heterozygote, and homozygote variants were 25.6 %, 39.1 %, and 35.3 %, respectively. In the TLR4 heterozygote group, P. gingivalis-positive subjects had more alveolar bone loss than P. gingivalis-negative subjects (p = 0.027), while no difference was observed in the wild type group. P. gingivalis-negative individuals with TLR9 heterozygotes exhibited significantly less alveolar bone loss compared to those with TLR9 wild type (p = 0.007). Polymorphisms of TLR4 in P. gingivalis carriers seem to expose to alveolar bone loss. Polymorphisms of TLR9 can be protective against alveolar bone loss in the absence of P. gingivalis.

Construction and characterization of a multilayered gingival keratinocyte culture model: the TURK-U model

In construction of epithelial cells as multilayers, the cells are grown submerged to confluence on fibroblast-embedded collagen gels and, then, lifted to air to promote their stratification. We recently demonstrated that gingival epithelial cells form uniform monolayers on semi-permeable nitrocellulose membranes, supported with a semi-solid growth medium, which allows the cells to grow at an air-liquid-solid interface from the beginning of the culturing protocol. In this study, the aim was to further develop our previous model to form a multilayered gingival epithelial culture model. Two different epithelial cell lines (HaCaT from skin and HMK from gingiva) were used in all experiments. Both cell lines were grown first as monolayers for 3 days. After that, keratinocytes were trypsinized, counted and seeded on a sterile semi-permeable nitrocellulose membrane placed on the top of a semi-solid growth medium, forming an air-liquid-solid interface for the cells to grow. At days 1, 4, and 7, epithelial cells were fixed, embedded in paraffin, and sectioned for routine Hematoxylin-Eosin staining and immunohistochemistry for cytokeratin (Ck). At day 1, HMK cells grew as monolayers, while HaCaT cells stratified forming an epithelium with two to three layers. At day 4, a stratified epithelium in the HMK model had four to five layers and its proliferation continued up to day 7. HaCaT cells formed a dense and weakly proliferating epithelium with three to four layers of stratification at day 4 but the proliferation disappeared at day 7. At all days, both models were strongly positive for Ck5, Ck7, and Ck 19, and weakly positive for Ck10. Gingival epithelial cells stratify successfully on semi-permeable nitrocellulose membranes, supported with a semi-solid growth medium. This technique allows researchers to construct uniform gingival epithelial cell multilayers at an air-liquid-solid interface, without using collagen gels, resulting in a more reproducible method.

Is Transforming Stem Cells to Pancreatic Beta Cells Still the Holy Grail for Type 2 Diabetes?

The Importance of Rockall Scoring System for Upper Gastrointestinal Bleeding in Long-Term Follow-Up

The aim of the study is to examine the importance of Rockall scoring system in long-term setting to estimate re-bleeding and mortality rate due to upper gastrointestinal bleeding. A total of 321 patients who had been treated for upper gastrointestinal bleeding were recruited to the study. Patients' demographic and clinical data, the amount of blood transfusion, endoscopy results, and Rockall scores were retrieved from patients' charts. The re-bleeding, morbidity, and mortality rates were noted after 3 years of follow-up with telephone. Re-bleeding rate was statistically significantly higher in Rockall 4 group compared to Rockall 0 group. Mortality rate was also statistically significantly higher in Rockall 4 group. Rockall risk scoring system is a valuable tool to predict re-bleeding and mortality rates for patients with upper gastrointestinal bleeding in long-term setting.