A new approach to fabricate copper, indium, gallium diselenide (CIGSe) solar cells on conductive fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) reached an efficiency of over 6% for a champion photovoltaic device. Commercial oxide nanoparticles are formulated into high-quality screen-printable ink based on ethyl cellulose solution in terpineol. The high homogeneity and good adhesion properties of the oxide ink play an important role in obtaining dense and highly crystalline photoabsorber layers. This finding reveals that solution-based screen-printing from readily available oxide precursors provides an interesting cost-effective alternative to current vacuum- and energy-demanding processes of the CIGSe solar cell fabrication.
Pgr5 proteins play a major direct role in cyclic electron flow paths in plants and eukaryotic phytoplankton. The genomes of many cyanobacterial species code for Pgr5-like proteins but their function is still uncertain. Here, we present evidence that supports a link between the Synechocystis sp. PCC6803 Pgr5-like protein and the regulation of intracellular redox balance. The knockout strain, pgr5KO, did not display substantial phenotypic response under our experimental conditions, confirming results obtained in earlier studies. However, the overexpression strain, pgr5OE, accumulated 2.5-fold more chlorophyll than the wild type and displayed increased content of photosystems matching the chlorophyll increase. As a result, electron transfer rates through the photosynthetic apparatus of pgr5OE increased, as did the amount of energy stored as glycogen. While, under photoautotrophic conditions, this metabolic difference had only minor effects, under mixotrophic conditions, pgr5OE cultures collapsed. Interestingly, this specific phenotype of pgr5OE mutants displayed a tendency for reverting, and cultures which previously collapsed in the presence of glucose were now able to survive. DNA sequencing of a pgr5OE strain revealed a second site suppression mutation in slr1916, a putative esterase associated with redox regulation. The phenotype of the slr1916 knockout is very similar to that of the strain reported here and to that of the pmgA regulator knockout. These data demonstrate that, in Synechocystis 6803, there is strong selection against overexpression of the Pgr5-like protein. The pseudoreversion event in a gene involved in redox regulation suggests a connection of the Pgr5-like protein to this network.
Deposition of atmospheric mercury is of global concern, primarily due to health effects associated with efficient bioaccumulation of mercury in marine food webs. Although oxidation of gaseous elementary mercury (GEM), the major fraction of atmospheric mercury, is a critical stage in regulating atmospheric mercury deposition efficiency, this oxidation is currently not well-characterized, limiting modeling-based assessments of mercury in the environment. Based on a previous study, we hypothesized that the oxidation of GEM is predominantly controlled by multistep bromine- and chlorine-induced oxidation (MBCO) in the remote marine boundary layer (RMBL), and by photochemical smog oxidants, primarily ozone (O3) and hydroxyl radical (OH), in the polluted continental boundary layer (PCBL). To test this hypothesis, we used the following analyses: (i) application of a newly developed criterion to evaluate the gaseous oxidized mercury (GOM)–O3 association based on previous studies in the RMBL and PCBL; (ii) measurement-based box simulations of GEM oxidation in the RMBL and at a PCBL site; and (iii) measurement-based analysis of photochemical oxidation vs. other processes which potentially influence GOM. Our model simulations indicated that the MBCO mechanism can reproduce GOM levels in the RMBL, but not in the PCBL. Our data analysis suggested the important role of photochemical smog oxidants in GEM oxidation in the PCBL, potentially masked by the effect of relative humidity and entrainment of free tropospheric air.
The oxidation of cis-[Pt(NH(3) )(2) (OAc)(2) ] with H(2) O(2) yields a mixture of two isomers: ctc-[Pt(NH(3) )(2) (OH)(2) (OAc)(2) ] and ctc-[Pt(NH(3) )(2) (OH)(OAc)(OH)(OAc)]. Following modification with 4-phenylbutyric (PhB) anhydride, two isomers were separated and characterized; the symmetric ctc-[Pt(NH(3) )(2) (PhB)(2) (OAc)(2) ] (1) and the nonsymmetric ctc-[Pt(NH(3) )(2) (PhB)(OAc)(PhB)(OAc)] (2). They differ in their log P values and despite having similar cellular uptake and similar DNA platination levels, the symmetric ctc-[Pt(NH(3) )(2) (OH)(2) (OAc)(2) ] is more than 4-fold more potent than the nonsymmetric isomer in a panel of 4 cancer cell lines.
The oxidation of cis-[Pt(NH(3) )(2) (OAc)(2) ] with H(2) O(2) yields a mixture of two isomers: ctc-[Pt(NH(3) )(2) (OH)(2) (OAc)(2) ] and ctc-[Pt(NH(3) )(2) (OH)(OAc)(OH)(OAc)]. Following modification with 4-phenylbutyric (PhB) anhydride, two isomers were separated and characterized; the symmetric ctc-[Pt(NH(3) )(2) (PhB)(2) (OAc)(2) ] (1) and the nonsymmetric ctc-[Pt(NH(3) )(2) (PhB)(OAc)(PhB)(OAc)] (2). They differ in their log P values and despite having similar cellular uptake and similar DNA platination levels, the symmetric ctc-[Pt(NH(3) )(2) (OH)(2) (OAc)(2) ] is more than 4-fold more potent than the nonsymmetric isomer in a panel of 4 cancer cell lines.
This study focuses on assessing the possible impact of changes in hemoglobin (Hb) oxygenation on the state of water in its hydration shell as it contributes to red blood cell deformability. Microwave Dielectric Spectroscopy (MDS) was used to monitor the changes in interactions between water molecules and Hb, the number of water molecules in the protein hydration shell, and the dynamics of pre-protein water in response to the transition of Hb from the tense (T) to the relaxed (R) state, and vice versa. Measurements were performed for Hb solutions of different concentrations (5 g/dl–30 g/dl) in phosphate-buffered saline buffer. Cole–Cole parameters of the main water relaxation peak in terms of interactions of water molecules (dipole–dipole/ionic dipole) during the oxygenation–deoxygenation cycle were used to analyze the obtained data. The water mobility—represented by α as a function of ln τ—differed dramatically between the R (oxygenated) state and the T (deoxygenated) state of Hb at physiologically relevant concentrations (30 g/dl–35 g/dl or 4.5 mM–5.5 mM). At these concentrations, oxygenated hemoglobin was characterized by substantially lower mobility of water in the hydration shell, measured as an increase in relaxation time, compared to deoxyhemoglobin. This change indicated an increase in red blood cell cytosolic viscosity when cells were oxygenated and a decrease in viscosity upon deoxygenation. Information provided by MDS on the intraerythrocytic water state of intact red blood cells reflects its interaction with all of the cytosolic components, making these measurements powerful predictors of the changes in the rheological properties of red blood cells, regardless of the cause.
During the final years of Ottoman rule and the three decades of British rule, Palestine witnessed the emergence of a community of professionally trained Palestinian Arab doctors. This study traces the evolution of the medical profession in Palestine against the background of the shifting cultural and symbolic capital of an expanding urban middle class and the educational possibilities that enabled this development. Palestinian Arab doctors are examined through a number of interconnected prisms: their activity in social, political, and professional regional networks, their modus operandi under British colonial rule, their response to Zionism and its accompanying influx of immigrant Jewish doctors, and their ability to mobilize collectively under a shared national vision.
A protease is an enzyme that catalyzes proteolysis of proteins into smaller polypeptides or single amino acids. As crucial elements in many biological processes, proteases have been shown to be informative biomarkers for several pathological conditions in humans, animals, and plants. Therefore, fast, reliable, and cost-effective protease biosensors suitable for point-of-care (POC) sensing may aid in diagnostics, treatment, and drug discovery for various diseases. This work presents an affordable and simple paper-based dipstick biosensor that utilizes peptide-encapsulated single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) for protease detection. Upon enzymatic digestion of the peptide, a significant drop in the photoluminescence (PL) of the SWCNTs was detected. As the emitted PL is in the near-infrared region, the developed biosensor has a good signal to noise ratio in biological fluids. One of the diseases associated with abnormal protease activity is pancreatitis. In acute pancreatitis, trypsin concentration could reach up to 84 mu g/mL in the urine. For proof of concept, we demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed biosensor for the detection of the abnormal levels of trypsin activity in urine samples.
A protease is an enzyme that catalyzes proteolysis of proteins into smaller polypeptides or single amino acids. As crucial elements in many biological processes, proteases have been shown to be informative biomarkers for several pathological conditions in humans, animals, and plants. Therefore, fast, reliable, and cost-effective protease biosensors suitable for point-of-care (POC) sensing may aid in diagnostics, treatment, and drug discovery for various diseases. This work presents an affordable and simple paper-based dipstick biosensor that utilizes peptide-encapsulated single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) for protease detection. Upon enzymatic digestion of the peptide, a significant drop in the photoluminescence (PL) of the SWCNTs was detected. As the emitted PL is in the near-infrared region, the developed biosensor has a good signal to noise ratio in biological fluids. One of the diseases associated with abnormal protease activity is pancreatitis. In acute pancreatitis, trypsin concentration could reach up to 84 mu g/mL in the urine. For proof of concept, we demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed biosensor for the detection of the abnormal levels of trypsin activity in urine samples.
Translated title: "Comparative zoological classification parameters: the Anatidae family in Egyptian and Sumerian".
This study aims to lay the foundations for a further research project in which, through a comparative methodology, a zootechnical compendium of graphic representations linked to semantic content characteristic of the birds in the two main pre-Aristotelian classification traditions of Antiquity, Egypt and Mesopotamia, is carried out in order to establish their points of contact, affinities, possible affiliations and constitutive divergences. Focusing - for space reasons - on some significant species of the Anatidae family, we try to achieve a dual objective: to make a brief description of its possible animal behaviour from iconographic and literary sources, and, in addition, to describe the lexical-graphematic functioning of the determining signs or generic classifiers this class of birds are depicted with in both spellings. This latter aspect will be addressed from a comparative perspective that allows us to shape a kind of basic mental scheme that accounts for the functional and symbolic role that these birds possessed at the core of the symbolic world representation revealed by both spellings. Furthermore, it could help us to understand more accurately the anthropological nucleus that underlies them. The authors of this contribution start from the theoretical principle - already confirmed by recent theoretical studies - that the contrasting study of semantic classifiers can provide valuable information on the categorization and hierarchy of classes of world features represented by the speakers of these languages, particularly as they are underlying cognitive principles and rules that iconically reflect a rather coherent conceptual and spatial microcosm.
This article is also part of Díaz-Iglesias Llanos, Lucía, Alba María Villar Gómez, Daniel Miguel Méndez-Rodríguez, Cruz Fernanz Yagüe, Miguel Ángel Molinero Polo, and José Ramón Pérez-Accino (eds). Horizonte y perspectiva. Estudios sobre la civilización egipcia antigua.
בשנת 1942 סערו וגעשו הקרבות בסטלינגרד, והג'נוסייד הנאצי הגיע לשיאו. גורל הציוויליזציה המערבית היה תלוי בשׂערה. ספר זה דן בארבעה חיבורים יוצאי דופן בשנה גורלית זו, פרי עטם של מלומדים גולים מגרמניה שיצאו חוצץ נגד הברבריות הנאצית: 'דוקטור פאוסטוס' מאת תומאס מאן (1947), 'המיתוס של המדינה' מאת ארנסט קסירר (1946), 'מימזיס: התגלמות המציאות בספרות המערב' מאת אריך אוארבך (1946), 'דיאלקטיקה של נאורות' מאת מקס הורקהיימר ותאודור אדורנו (1944). עד כה נחקרה המורשת הייחודית של כל אחד מן המחברים האלה בנפרד, ולא נבחן אותו הרגע של שנת 1942 שהיה פרשת דרכים מכריעה בקריירות שלהם. מחבר הספר 'העט נגד החרב' בודק כל חיבור לגופו, מסביר את ההקשר של יצירתו, ומאיר את הקשרים שבין ארבעת החיבורים האלה.מחבריהם קראו בהם למלחמת תרבות דחופה ומקיפה כנגד הברבריות הנאצית, ובתוך כך שינו את קווי המִתאר ואת התכנים של ההיסטוריה האינטלקטואלית המודרנית. -- תיאור המו"ל
Pentraxin 3 (PTX3), a multimeric glycoprotein, is implicated in various biological functions. PTX3 was shown to be elevated in the corpus luteum (CL) of early pregnant ewes; however, its role in sheep or other ruminants' CL during this reproductive stage or how it is regulated remain unknown. Here we explored the role of PTX3 and its relationship with interferon-tau (IFNT; the pregnancy recognition signaling molecule during early pregnancy in domestic ruminants) in bovine luteinized granulosa cells (LGCs). IFNT robustly elevated PTX3 expression in bovine LGCs, and significantly stimulated its expression in luteal endothelial cells, along with CL slices; yet, LGCs were the most responsive and sensitive among these luteal models. ALK2/ALK3/ALK6 kinase inhibitor, dorsomorphin, dose-dependently inhibited basal and IFNT-elevated PTX3 expression in LGCs. In contrast, ALK4/5/7 inhibitor, SB431542, did not alter basal and TGFB1-induced PTX3. We found that recombinant human PTX3 itself moderately but significantly increases LGC numbers. Because PTX3 is highly expressed in bovine LGCs, we next examined the impact of lowering endogenous PTX3 levels with siRNA. PTX3 silencing decreased the viable cell numbers and reversed IFNT actions on cell viability, percentage of proliferating cells, and on two key survival/death genes: BIRCS encoding surviving protein, and FASL - a death-inducing signal. Interestingly, thrombospondin-1, a known luteal proapoptotic factor, was inversely related to PTX3 in LGCs. Together, these findings suggest a novel role for PTX3 during early pregnancy, as mediator of IFNT prosurvival actions supporting CL maintenance during this reproductive stage.
