Mild and Effective Polymerization of Dopamine on Keratin Films for Innovative Photoactivable and Biocompatible Coated Materials

Mussel‐inspired polydopamine (PD) coating represents a promising route for constructing functional materials and finely tuning or completely changing their surface properties. In this work, a mild and effective method to realize the deposition of PD on keratin‐based films is reported. Reactive oxygen species (ROS), generated by keratin films doped with a photosensitizer, e.g., Azure A (AzA), upon UV–vis and vis‐near IR irradiation, are exploited to obtain the PD coating. Interestingly, the use of vis‐near IR irradiation leads to an increased production of ROS by AzA resulting in a greater PD deposition. Compared to uncoated keratin films, the PD‐keratin coated materials show a granular but homogeneous surface and an increased hydrophilicity, maintaining the ROS generation ability of AzA. This work demonstrates a useful method to effectively and rapidly functionalize with PD materials that are sensitive to temperature, pH and UV light, such as keratin. The proposed strategy allows obtaining new multifunctional biomaterials of potential interest in tissue engineering and drug delivery; in particular, the use of PD‐keratin films for near IR laser bonding of ophthalmic tissue, which is a representative case in wound healing purpose, is shown.     

MELTING OF A PURE METAL ON A VERTICAL WALL: NUMERICAL SIMULATION

Melting of pure gallium in a bidimensional rectangular cavity with aspect ratio 1.4 is presented. The paper is focused on pattern formation in the fluid phase during the process of melting. The formation of a multiple cells structure has been found during the first stage of the transient, while a merging of the small recirculating cells into larger ones is observed during the following stage of the transient, generating a quite complex evolution of the flow pattern. To ensure the validity of the flow pattern evolution found, a deep meshsensitivity analysis has beenperformed and repeated during the different phases of flow evolution. Three different meshes have been tested, the finest of those, assuming as unity the shorter vertical dimension, with a Delta x = 1/640 and a Delta y = 1/320. To optimize computational resources requests, an optimal solution strategy has been adopted, using different meshes during the various phases of the transient, depending on the size of the melted zone. Because of the large request of CPU time only one test case is presented and compared with available results at Ra = 7 x 10 5 , Pr = 0.0216, and Ste = 4.6 x 10 - 2. Results show that only the use of a fine mesh allows the observation of the multicellular flow structure described.     

A 12-camera body scanning system based on close-range photogrammetry for precise applications

A precise 3D body scanning system, designed for applications in the medical and biomedical field, is described. The system consists of 12 digital cameras, mounted on a rigid frame which maintains the B/H ratio constant. An LED lighting system, integrated with the rigid frame, ensures a homogenous illumination of the subject. A modified firmware installed on each device enables the synchronised remote release driven by remote control. Data transmission to the computer is carried out wirelessly. A process for the estimation of the extrinsic camera parameters has been implemented with the aim of obtaining a 3D model in 1:1 scale. Analyses have been performed in order to state the repeatability of the process used to estimate the external camera calibration parameters as well as the precision of the 3D digital models of a body obtained for a mannequin and for a live human subject.     

The Case for Anthocyanin Consumption to Promote Human Health: A Review

Anthocyanins belong to the flavonoid group of polyphenolic compounds, which are responsible for the red and blue colors of plant organs such as fruits, flowers, and leaves. Due to their frequent presence in plants, particularly berry fruits, vegetables, and grapes, they are key components of the human diet. Interest in anthocyanins has increased widely during the past decade. Numerous studies have suggested that anthocyanins have a wide range of health‐promoting properties. These compounds are therefore considered to be a functional food factor, which may have important implications in the prevention of chronic diseases. The aim of this body of work is to investigate and review the current literature on anthocyanins, and particularly their pharmacokinetics and any health‐promoting properties, in order to summarize existing knowledge and highlight any aspects that require further study and analysis.     

The impact of the new investments in combined cycle gas turbine power plants on the Italian electricity price

The paper measures the variation of the electricity price in Italy within the next 10 years due to the recent investment flow in combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power plants. It starts by investigating the possibility of decoupling gas and oil prices on the basis of hypotheses about the amount of existing resources and plausible technical substitutability assumptions of the latter with the former. In particular, it is supposed that, in the Italian market, natural gas will play a crucial role which oil has had in power generation. The price of electricity stemming from natural gas is then calculated taking into account the role of the power mix restructuring that derives from the CCGT power plants investments. Under reasonable assumptions, it is shown that a net reduction of at least 17% on the electric price is likely to be expected.     

Adaptation of the Tokuyasu method for the ultrastructural study and immunogold labelling of filamentous fungi

The study of filamentous fungi is fundamental not only to extend their biotechnological applications, but also to develop new drugs to fight pathological species. Morphological analyses are particularly relevant when investigating their development and differentiation. The need to maintain the orientation of hypahe and the presence of a cell wall, which hampers the sample infiltration with cryoprotectants and other reagents necessary to preserve the cell ultrastructure, creates difficulties with the use of electron microscopy (EM). Here, we present an immunoelectron microscopy (IEM) procedure that combines the Tokuyasu protocol adapted to yeast and the flat-embedding technique. While the first method leads to a fine resolution of the ultrastructure of Aspergillus nidulans because of both the cell wall permeabilization and the negative membrane coloration, the second permits us to preserve the spatial distribution of the hypahe of this fungus. The presented data demonstrate the advantages of this combination and the unprecedented potential of this relatively simple and rapid protocol in resolving the morphology of filamentous fungi and performing localization studies.     

Posterior Cramér–Rao lower bounds for passive bistatic radar tracking with uncertain target measurements

In the context of target tracking, the Posterior Cramér–Rao Lower Bound (PCRLB) provides a powerful tool to assess the optimal achievable accuracy of target state estimation. In the bistatic configuration both geometry factors and transmitted waveform play an important role in the estimation accuracy. In this paper, we derive the PCRLB on sequential target state estimation accuracy in a bistatic radar tracking scenario, in the most general case of uncertain target measurements, i.e. when the probability of detection is less than one and the probability of false alarm is greater than zero. Then, we propose a PCRLB-based algorithm for selecting the best transmitter of opportunity for the tracking of a radar target in a multisensor Passive Coherent Location (PCL) system.     

Face stability and required support pressure for TBM driven tunnels with ideal face membrane – Drained case

Assuming that an ideal membrane develops at the face, three-dimensional finite element simulations are employed to investigate the effects of tunnel diameter, cover-to-diameter ratio, lateral earth pressure coefficient, and soil strength parameters on the stability and displacements of the excavation face of mechanically driven tunnels in drained conditions. The relation between the face support pressure and the calculated tunnel face displacement gave the minimum face support pressure that should be applied on the tunnel face to avoid abrupt movement of the tunnel face. An equation is given for the minimum support pressure as a function of friction angle, cohesion, lateral earth pressure coefficient, tunnel diameter, and tunnel depth. The minimum support pressures are compared to the analytical solutions available from the literature. For cohesionless ground, the face support pressures obtained from the finite element analysis shows a good agreement with the values from the analytical methods published in the literature when cover-to-diameter ratio is 1. However, as the cover-to-diameter ratio increases, the values from the finite element analysis are greater than suggested by the analytical method. For cohesive ground, the pressure from finite element analysis is found to be almost always equal to or greater than the values obtained with analytical solutions.