Nanoparticles as nonviral gene delivery vectors

Gene therapy, as therapeutic treatment to genetic or acquired diseases, is attracting much interest in the research community, leading to noteworthy developments over the past two decades. Although this field is still dominated by viral vectors, nonviral vectors have recently received an ever increasing attention in order to overcome the safety problems of their viral counterpart. This review presents the biological aspects involved in the gene delivery process and explores the recent developments and achievements of nonviral gene carriers.     

Le Corbusier's urbanism: An urban characterisation of his proposals for inner cities

Le Corbusier's urbanism is routinely met with a backlash of criticism, which often overlooks the complexity of his work. There is a tendency to focus on the characteristics of his proposal for Paris in 1925 or on the ideas of CIAM's Athens Charter. However, such affirmations ignore the conceptual and qualitative evolution of his urban proposals. In this sense, the research hypothesis is that Corbusian urban models go beyond the Plan Voisin, diffused by urban planning theories as the unique paradigm of his urban ideas.Through analysis and characterisation of the inner-city urban plans of Le Corbusier, this report seeks to demonstrate the existence of other models and compares them to those often showcased in the partial examination of Le Corbusier's urbanism. The following parameters will be analysed: (1) population densities and areas for (2) buildings, (3) vehicles, and (4) pedestrians.The results of this research indicate the need to parameterise and analyse Le Corbusier's cities beyond a single case to demonstrate the diversity and evolution of his urbanistic work. This process seeks to dissipate the common view that falsely extrapolates ideas of his urban planning, largely that of his first proposal, for Paris.     

Rapid and cost-effective multiparameter toxicity tests for soil microorganisms

Three biochemical parameters, DNA quantification in soil samples and two enzymatic activities, beta-galactosidase and dehydrogenase have been assessed as potential end-points for the use in cost-effective toxicity tests on soil microorganisms. The assessment included the development of a classical dose-response 24-h assay and the incorporation of measurements of the effects on microbial activities in soil column leaching studies and multispecies miniaturised terrestrial systems (MTS). Four different chemicals, copper, a new herbicide, thiabendazole and fenthion were studied. A rapid fluorescence DNA quantification technique did not produce adequate responses. The efforts to quantify DNA after extraction and clean-up procedures failed due to the presence of humic acids. From the protocol of the technique one could see that the technical procedure is time-consuming and expensive and, for this reason, not suitable for use as a parameter in rapid and cost-effective tests. However, the enzymatic activities showed their potential as toxicity end-points. Copper produced a concentration/response inhibition of beta-galactosidase and dehydrogenase with EC50 values of 78.39 and 24.77 mg Cu/kg soil, respectively. In the soil column study, these endpoints allowed the measurement of the microbial activities through the column. The effects of the new herbicide on beta-galactosidase and dehydrogenase activities were statistically significant for the highest application dose (40 g/ha). Thiabendazole affected the microbial activity when mixed within the soil, but no effects were observed when this fungicide was applied on the soil surface. Fenthion produced effects when applied either in the soil or on the soil surface. These results can be explained by the low mobility of thiabendazole. The results show the capabilities of these biochemical parameters to be included as endpoints in cost-effective bioassays.     

壁式基础（wall foundation）

壁式基础为以连续壁单元或其组合作为结构体支承之基础构造，其功能与大口径钻掘基桩相当，但在造形上则有别于传统钻掘式基桩之圆柱形，一般使用于高楼之壁式基础形式多为一字形、十字形、T形或H形之柱状结构（如图1（a）），应用于桥梁工程之壁式基础，则多为单室、双室或多室型之矩形箱状结构（如图1（b）），基本上均系配合上部结构物形态、载重特征以及连续壁施工机械之特性而设计。由于壁式基础断面较传统基桩更具弹性，配合上部载重特性，基础断面可做最有效之配置，因此可提供更经济之设计，有效节省工程经费。     

Effect of the nutritional recovery on the concentration of Interleukin-2 in severely malnourished children

The severely malnourished child has dysfunction of the immune response that may increase the risk of morbidity or mortality due to infectious diseases, therefore, the purpose of this study was to demonstrate the effect of intensive nutritional support on the cellular and serum concentration of IL-2 and CD4+, as well as CD8+ T cells in children with severe protein energy malnutrition. A clinical assay was carried out in a tertiary care hospital. 10 severely malnourished children < 48 months of age who received formula without lactose via enteral feeding for two weeks and ad libitum for an additional two weeks were included. Cellular and serum concentrations of IL-2 and the subpopulation of CD4+ and CD8+ were obtained. A control group (n = 13) was included. A paired student t test for initial-final determinations and the Mann-Whitney Test for comparison with control group were used, and null hypothesis was rejected with a p value < 0.05. There was a noteworthy increase in the comparison between the initial vs. final percentage of the cellular expression of IL-2 (p < 0.001) and in the serum concentration of IL-2 (p = 0.001). Therefore, four weeks of nutritional recovery significantly restored the production of IL-2, independently of the nutrients involved in the process, although, the rate of restoration seems to depend on the severity of the children primary PEM.     

Robust plasmon waveguides in strongly interacting nanowire arrays

Arrays of parallel metallic nanowires are shown to provide a tunable, robust, and versatile platform for plasmon interconnects, including high-curvature turns with minimum signal loss. The proposed guiding mechanism relies on gap plasmons existing in the region between adjacent nanowire pairs and multiwire arrays. We focus on square and circular silver nanowires in silica, which we demonstrate to perform much better than previous schemes in terms of a relevant figure of merit measuring the degree of allowed integration. Our work provides the tools for designing plasmon-based interconnects and achieving a high degree of integration with minimum cross talk between adjacent plasmon guides, which should be relevant ingredients for future multiplexed biosensors.     

Estimation of toxicity of ionic liquids in Leukemia Rat Cell Line and Acetylcholinesterase enzyme by principal component analysis, neural networks and multiple lineal regressions

Multiple linear regression (MLR), radial basis network (RB), and multilayer perceptron (MLP) neural network (NN) models have been explored for the estimation of toxicity of ammonium, imidazolium, morpholinium, phosphonium, piperidinium, pyridinium, pyrrolidinium and quinolinium ionic liquid salts in the Leukemia Rat Cell Line (IPC-81) and Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) using only their empirical formulas (elemental composition) and molecular weights. The toxicity values were estimated by means of decadic logarithms of the half maximal effective concentration (EC(50)) in microM (log(10)EC(50)). The model's performances were analyzed by statistical parameters, analysis of residuals and central tendency and statistical dispersion tests. The MLP model estimates the log(10)EC(50) in IPC-81 and AchE with a mean prediction error less than 2.2 and 3.8%, respectively.     

基于ANP-LVQ方法的城市洪灾风险评价

为了更好地为城市防洪工作提供指导,以宿城区为例,从灾害和风险角度建立了城市洪灾风险评价指标体系。结合网络层次分析法(ANP)主观性和学习向量化法(LVQ)客观性的特点,建立了基于ANP-LVQ方法的城市洪灾风险综合评价模型,并通过构建风险指标函数,将评价结果以风险指数的形式量化地表示出来。结果表明,宿城区防洪现状介于危险与一般之间,洪灾损失指数接近危险,洪灾概率指数接近一般,因此今后防洪工作的重点在于建立健全有效的洪灾应急预案。