scholarly journals Astromimetics

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 184954351879434 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vuk Uskoković ◽  
Victoria M Wu
Keyword(s):  
Materials Science ◽  
Fine Particles ◽  
Great Majority ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Iron Core ◽  
Colloidal Form ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Celestial Bodies ◽  
Intended Use

Composite, multifunctional fine particles are likely to be at the frontier of materials science in the foreseeable future. Here we present a submicron composite particle that mimics the stratified structure of the Earth by having a zero-valent iron core, a silicate/silicide mantle, and a thin carbonaceous crust resembling the biosphere and its biotic deposits. Particles were formulated in a stable colloidal form and made to interact with various types of healthy and cancer cells in vitro. A selective anticancer activity was observed, promising from the point of view of the intended use of the particles for tumor targeting across the blood–brain barrier. As an extension of the idea underlying the fabrication of a particle mimicking the planet Earth, we propose a new field of mimetics within materials science: astromimetics. The astromimetic approach in the context of materials science consists of the design of particles after the structure of celestial bodies. With Earth being the most chemically diverse and fertile out of all the astral bodies known, it is anticipated that the great majority of astromimetic material models will fall in the domain of geo-inspired ones.

scholarly journals Dynamic Equilibria in Statistical and Nonlinear Physics of Uniform Stress Rotating Space Elevators (USRSE)

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 56
Author(s):  
Leonardo Golubovic ◽  
Steven Knudsen
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Nanotubes ◽  
Materials Science ◽  
Dynamic Equilibrium ◽  
Outer Space ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Uniform Stress ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Equilibrium Configurations ◽  
Space Elevators ◽  
Dynamic Equilibria

The discovery of ultra-strong materials such as carbon nanotubes and diamond nano-thread structures has recently motivated an enhanced interest for the physics of Space Elevators connecting the Earth with outer space. A new concept has recently emerged in space elevator physics: Rotating Space Elevators (RSE) [Golubović, L. & Knudsen, S. (2009). Classical and statistical mechanics of celestial scale spinning strings: Rotating space elevators. Europhysics Letters 86(3), 34001.]. Objects sliding along rotating RSE string (sliding climbers) do not require internal engines or propulsion to be transported from the Earth's surface into outer space. Here we address the physics of a special RSE family, Uniform Stress Rotating Space Elevators (USRSE), characterized by constant tensile stress along the string. From the point of view of materials science, this condition provides the best control of string’s global integrity. We introduce an advanced analytic approach to obtain the dynamic equilibrium configurations of USRSE strings. We use our results to discuss the applications of USRSE for spacecraft launching.

scholarly journals Relativistic Considerations for Precession and Nutation

1998 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 173-176
Author(s):  
S.A. Klioner ◽  
M. Soffel
Keyword(s):  
General Relativity ◽  
Rotational Motion ◽  
Earth Rotation ◽  
Equations Of Motion ◽  
Relativistic Effects ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Extended Body ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Celestial Bodies

Abstract The whole scope of problems related with the rotational motion of celestial bodies is briefly discussed. Relativistic modeling of the Earth rotation is considered from a conceptual point of view. Relativistic effects in rotational equations of motion of an extended body in general relativity are discussed. Numerical values of the effects are given.

scholarly journals Observed and Theoretical Values of the Nutations

1971 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 186-189
Author(s):  
R.O. Vicente
Keyword(s):  
Great Majority ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Astronomical Observations ◽  
The Earth ◽  
External Forces

We are here concerned with the nutations that appear in the motion of the Earth because of the existence of the external forces due to the Sun and Moon, that is, the forced nutations.We can consider the nutations divided in two groups from the point of view of their values and the precision attained by astronomical observations. The first group comprises the nutations that have values greater than 1″ and in this group we have the nutation of period 18.6 yr called the principal nutation and the value of this nutation in obliquity is called the constant of nutation. The second group comprises the nutations with values smaller than 1″ and corresponds to the great majority of all other nutations.

Enzyme Promiscuous Activity: How to Define it and its Evolutionary Aspects

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (5) ◽  
pp. 400-410
Author(s):  
Valentina De Luca ◽  
Luigi Mandrich
Keyword(s):  
Gene Evolution ◽  
Sequence Divergence ◽  
High Specificity ◽  
Industrial Applications ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Enzyme Promiscuity ◽  
Primary Activity ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Main Activity

: Enzymes are among the most studied biological molecules because better understanding enzymes structure and activity will shed more light on their biological processes and regulation; from a biotechnological point of view there are many examples of enzymes used with the aim to obtain new products and/or to make industrial processes less invasive towards the environment. Enzymes are known for their high specificity in the recognition of a substrate but considering the particular features of an increasing number of enzymes this is not completely true, in fact, many enzymes are active on different substrates: this ability is called enzyme promiscuity. Usually, promiscuous activities have significantly lower kinetic parameters than to that of primary activity, but they have a crucial role in gene evolution. It is accepted that gene duplication followed by sequence divergence is considered a key evolutionary mechanism to generate new enzyme functions. In this way, promiscuous activities are the starting point to increase a secondary activity in the main activity and then get a new enzyme. The primary activity can be lost or reduced to a promiscuous activity. In this review we describe the differences between substrate and enzyme promiscuity, and its rule in gene evolution. From a practical point of view the knowledge of promiscuity can facilitate the in vitro progress of proteins engineering, both for biomedical and industrial applications. In particular, we report cases regarding esterases, phosphotriesterases and cytochrome P450.

Insecticidal Active Rotenoids from Plant Parts and Callus Culture of Medicago sativa L. from a Semiarid Region of India (Rajasthan)

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. 937-941
Author(s):  
Sharad Vats ◽  
Preeti Mehra
Keyword(s):  
Medicago Sativa ◽  
Callus Culture ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Semiarid Region ◽  
Disease Vectors ◽  
Vector Borne Diseases ◽  
Plant Parts ◽  
Resistant Varieties ◽  
Medicago Sativa L

Background: Vector-borne diseases are quite prevalent globally and are one of the major causes of deaths due to infectious diseases. There is an availability of synthetic insecticides, however, their excessive and indiscriminate use have resulted in the emergence of resistant varieties of insects. Thus, a search for novel biopesticide has become inevitable. Methods: Rotenoids were isolated and identified from different parts of Medicago sativa L. This group of metabolites was also identified in the callus culture, and the rotenoid content was monitored during subculturing for a period of 10 months. Enhancement of the rotenoid content was evaluated by feeding precursors in a tissue culture medium. Results: Four rotenoids (elliptone, deguelin, rotenone and Dehydrorotenone) were identified, which were confirmed using spectral and chromatographic techniques. The maximum rotenoid content was found in the seeds (0.33±0.01%), followed by roots (0.31±0.01%) and minimum in the aerial parts (0.20±0.05%). A gradual decrease in the rotenoid content was observed with the ageing of subcultured tissue maintained for 10 months. The production of rotenoids was enhanced up to 2 folds in the callus culture using amino acids, Phenylalanine and Methionine as precursors as compared to the control. The LC50 value of the rotenoids was found to be 91 ppm and 162 ppm against disease vectors of malaria and Dracunculiasis, respectively. Conclusion: The study projects M. sativa as a novel source of biopesticide against the disease vectors of malaria and Dracunculiasis. The use of precursors to enhance the rotenoid content in vitro can be an effective venture from a commercial point of view.

scholarly journals Potential of Probiotic Frozen Blackcurrant Products: Consumer Preference, Physicochemical Characterization, and Cell Viability

Foods ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 792
Author(s):  
Kati Väkeväinen ◽  
Noora Rinkinen ◽  
Roosa-Maria Willman ◽  
Jenni Lappi ◽  
Kaisa Raninen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Storage Time ◽  
Physicochemical Characterization ◽  
Consumer Preference ◽  
Nutritional Composition ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Frozen Food ◽  
High Viability ◽  
Food Applications

Blackcurrant is a healthy, affordable, and traditionally gardened berry that, thus far, has been underused in food applications. From the consumers’ point of view, the acidic taste of blackcurrants is a challenge; therefore, these berries have mainly been utilized for sugary juice production. This research study aimed to develop a frozen vegan blackcurrant product with pleasant sensory properties and potential probiotic function. A candidate probiotic, Lactoplantibacillus plantarum Q823, was used in the manufacturing process. The physicochemical properties, nutritional composition, and consumer preference for the developed product were assessed, as was the viability of L. plantarum Q823 during storage time and in an in vitro gastrointestinal model. Consumers (n = 71) perceived the developed product to be pleasant. L. plantarum Q823 had high viability counts (log colony forming units (cfu) g−1 7.0 ± 0.38) in the final product, although the viability of L. plantarum Q823 during storage time needs to be enhanced to obtain a probiotic product. Thus, within an optimized formulation, blackcurrant berries represent a potential raw material for functional frozen food products.

scholarly journals Insights into the Antioxidant Mechanism of Newly Synthesized Benzoxazinic Nitrones: In Vitro and In Silico Studies with DPPH Model Radical

Antioxidants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 1224
Author(s):  
Stefania Marano ◽  
Cristina Minnelli ◽  
Lorenzo Ripani ◽  
Massimo Marcaccio ◽  
Emiliano Laudadio ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Antioxidant Activity ◽  
Epr Spectroscopy ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Uv Spectrophotometry ◽  
Design And Synthesis ◽  
Antioxidant Mechanism ◽  
Primary Mechanism ◽  
In Silico Studies ◽  
Wide Range

Synthetic nitrone spin-traps are being explored as therapeutic agents for the treatment of a wide range of oxidative stress-related pathologies, including but not limited to stroke, cancer, cardiovascular, and neurodegenerative diseases. In this context, increasing efforts are currently being made to the design and synthesis of new nitrone-based compounds with enhanced efficacy. The most researched nitrones are surely the ones related to α-phenyl-tert-butylnitrone (PBN) and 5,5-dimethyl-1-pyrroline N-oxide (DMPO) derivatives, which have shown to possess potent biological activity in many experimental animal models. However, more recently, nitrones with a benzoxazinic structure (3-aryl-2H-benzo[1,4]oxazin-N-oxides) have been demonstrated to have superior antioxidant activity compared to PBN. In this study, two new benzoxazinic nitrones bearing an electron-withdrawing methoxycarbonyl group on the benzo moiety (in para and meta positions respect to the nitronyl function) were synthesized. Their in vitro antioxidant activity was evaluated by two cellular-based assays (inhibition of AAPH-induced human erythrocyte hemolysis and cell death in human retinal pigmented epithelium (ARPE-19) cells) and a chemical approach by means of the α,α-diphenyl-β-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging assay, using both electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy and UV spectrophotometry. A computational approach was also used to investigate their potential primary mechanism of antioxidant action, as well as to rationalize the effect of functionalization on the nitrones reactivity toward DPPH, chosen as model radical in this study. Further insights were also gathered by exploring the nitrone electrochemical properties via cyclic voltammetry and by studying their kinetic behavior by means of EPR spectroscopy. Results showed that the introduction of an electron-withdrawing group in the phenyl moiety in the para position significantly increased the antioxidant capacity of benzoxazinic nitrones both in cell and cell-free systems. From the mechanistic point of view, the calculated results closely matched the experimental findings, strongly suggesting that the H-atom transfer (HAT) is likely to be the primary mechanism in the DPPH quenching.

scholarly journals III. On the nature and construction of the sun and fixed stars

1795 ◽  
Vol 85 ◽  
pp. 46-72 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Central Body ◽  
Planetary System ◽  
Considerable Progress ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Great Satisfaction ◽  
The Earth ◽  
The World ◽  
Celestial Bodies ◽  
The Universe ◽  
Made In

Among the celestial bodies the sun is certainly the first which should attract our notice. It is a fountain of light that illuminates the world! it is the cause of that heat which main­tains the productive power of nature, and makes the earth a fit habitation for man! it is the central body of the planetary system; and what renders a knowledge of its nature still more interesting to us is, that the numberless stars which compose the universe, appear, by the strictest analogy, to be similar bodies. Their innate light is so intense, that it reaches the eye of the observer from the remotest regions of space, and forcibly claims his notice. Now, if we are convinced that an inquiry into the nature and properties of the sun is highly worthy of our notice, we may also with great satisfaction reflect on the considerable progress that has already been made in our knowledge of this eminent body. It would require a long detail to enumerate all the various discoveries which have been made on this subject; I shall, therefore, content myself with giving only the most capital of them.

scholarly journals Quantitative assessment of the pool size and subset distribution of cytolytic T lymphocytes within human resting or alloactivated peripheral blood T cell populations.

1983 ◽  
Vol 158 (2) ◽  
pp. 571-585 ◽  
Author(s):  
A Moretta ◽  
G Pantaleo ◽  
L Moretta ◽  
M C Mingari ◽  
J C Cerottini
Keyword(s):  
Monoclonal Antibody ◽  
T Cells ◽  
T Cell ◽  
T Lymphocytes ◽  
Peripheral Blood ◽  
Great Majority ◽  
T Cell Subsets ◽  
Cytolytic T Lymphocytes ◽  
Subset Distribution

In order to directly assess the distribution of cytolytic T lymphocytes (CTL) and their precursors (CTL-P) in the two major subsets of human T cells, we have used limiting dilution microculture systems to determine their frequencies. The two subsets were defined according to their reactivity (or lack thereof) with B9.4 monoclonal antibody (the specificity of which is similar, if not identical, to that of Leu 2b monoclonal antibody). Both B9+ and B9- cells obtained by sorting peripheral blood resting T cells using the fluorescence-activated cell sorter (FACS) were assayed for total CTL-P frequencies in a microculture system that allows clonal growth of every T cell. As assessed by a lectin-dependent assay, approximately 30% of peripheral blood T cells were CTP-P. In the B9+ subset (which represents 20-30% of all T cells), the CTL-P frequency was close to 100%, whereas the B9- subset had a 25-fold lower CTL-P frequency. It is thus evident that 90% and 10% of the total CTL-P in peripheral blood are confined to the B9+ or B9- T cell subsets, respectively. Analysis of the subset distribution of CTL-P directed against a given set of alloantigens confirmed these findings. CTL-P frequencies were also determined in B9+ and B9- subsets derived from T cells that had been activated in allogenic mixed leucocyte cultures (MLC). Approximately 10% of MLC T cells were CTL-P. This frequency was increased 3.5-fold in the B9+ subset, whereas the B9- subset contained only a small, although detectable number of CTL-P. Moreover, the great majority of the (operationally defined) CTL-P in MLC T cell population were found to be directed against the stimulating alloantigens, thus indicating a dramatic increase in specific CTL-P frequencies following in vitro stimulation in bulk cultures.

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