Growth condition of iodine-doped n+-CdTe layers in metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy

Iodine doping of CdTe layers grown on (100) GaAs by metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE) was studied using diethyltelluride (DETe) and diisopropyltelluride (DiPTe) as tellurium precursors and ethyliodine (EI) as a dopant. Electron densities of doped layers increased gradually with decreasing the growth temperature from 425°C to 325°C. Doped layers grown with DETe had higher electron densities than those grown with DiPTe. When the hot-wall temperature was increased from 200°C to 250°C at the growth temperature of 325°C, doped layers grown with DETe showed an increase of the electron density from 3.7×10¹⁶ cm⁻³ to 2.6×10¹⁸ cm⁻³. On the other hand, such an increase of the electron density was not observed for layers grown with DiPTe. The mechanisms for different doping properties for DETe and DiPTe were studied on the basis of the growth characteristics for these precursors. Higher thermal stability of DETe than that of DiPTe was considered to cause the difference of doping properties. With increasing the hot-wall temperature from 200°C to 250°C, the effective ratio of Cd to Te species on the growth surface became larger for layers grown with DETe than those grown with DiPTe. This was considered to decrease the compensation of doped iodine and to increase the electron density of layers grown with DETe. The effective ratio of Cd to Te species on the growth surface also increased with decreasing growth temperature. This was considered to increase the electron density with decreasing growth temperature.     

Recent Update on the Molecular Mechanisms of Gonadal Steroids Action in Adipose Tissue

The gonadal steroids, including androgens, estrogens and progestogens, are involved in the control of body fat distribution in humans. Nevertheless, not only the size and localization of the fat depots depend on the sex steroids levels, but they can also highly affect the functioning of adipose tissue. Namely, the gonadocorticoids can directly influence insulin signaling, lipid metabolism, fatty acid uptake and adipokine production. They may also alter energy balance and glucose homeostasis in adipocytes in an indirect way, e.g., by changing the expression level of aquaglyceroporins. This work presents the recent advances in understanding the molecular mechanism of how the gonadal steroids influence the functioning of adipose tissue leading to a set of detrimental metabolic consequences. Special attention is given here to highlighting the sexual dimorphism of adipocyte functioning in terms of health and disease. Particularly, we discuss the molecular background of metabolic disturbances occurring in consequence of hormonal imbalance which is characteristic of some common endocrinopathies such as the polycystic ovary syndrome. From this perspective, we highlight the potential drug targets and the active substances which can be used in personalized sex-specific management of metabolic diseases, in accord with the patient’s hormonal status.     

The Co-Culture of Staphylococcal Biofilm and Fibroblast Cell Line: The Correlation of Biological Phenomena with Metabolic NMR1 Footprint

Staphylococcus aureus is one of the most prevalent pathogens associated with several types of biofilm-based infections, including infections of chronic wounds. Mature staphylococcal biofilm is extremely hard to eradicate from a wound and displays a high tendency to induce recurring infections. Therefore, in the present study, we aimed to investigate in vitro the interaction between S. aureus biofilm and fibroblast cells searching for metabolites that could be considered as potential biomarkers of critical colonization and infection. Utilizing advanced microscopy and microbiological methods to examine biofilm formation and the staphylococcal infection process, we were able to distinguish 4 phases of biofilm development. The analysis of staphylococcal biofilm influence on the viability of fibroblasts allowed us to pinpoint the moment of critical colonization—12 h post contamination. Based on the obtained model we performed a metabolomics analysis by ¹H NMR spectroscopy to provide new insights into the pathophysiology of infection. We identified a set of metabolites related to the switch to anaerobic metabolism that was characteristic for staphylococcal biofilm co-cultured with fibroblast cells. The data presented in this study may be thus considered a noteworthy but preliminary step in the direction of developing a new, NMR-based tool for rapid diagnosing of infection in a chronic wound.     

Classification of dissimilarity data with a new flexible Mahalanobis-like metric

Statistical pattern recognition traditionally relies on feature-based representation. For many applications, such vector representation is not available and we only possess proximity data (distance, dissimilarity, similarity, ranks, etc.). In this paper, we consider a particular point of view on discriminant analysis from dissimilarity data. Our approach is inspired by the Gaussian classifier and we defined decision rules to mimic the behavior of a linear or a quadratic classifier. The number of parameters is limited (two per class). Numerical experiments on artificial and real data show interesting behavior compared to Support Vector Machines and to kNN classifier: (a) lower or equivalent error rate, (b) equivalent CPU time, (c) more robustness with sparse dissimilarity data.     

Modulation of Steroid and Triterpenoid Metabolism in Calendula officinalis Plants and Hairy Root Cultures Exposed to Cadmium Stress

The present study investigated the changes in the content of steroids and triterpenoids in C. officinalis hairy root cultures and plants exposed to cadmium stress. The observed effects included the content and composition of analyzed groups of compounds, particularly the proportions among individual sterols (e.g., stigmasterol-to-sitosterol ratio), their ester and glycoside conjugates. The total sterol content increased in roots (by 30%) and hairy root culture (by 44%), whereas it decreased in shoots (by 15%); moreover, these effects were inversely correlated with Cd-induced growth suppression. Metabolic alterations of sterols and their forms seemed to play a greater role in the response to Cd stress in roots than in shoots. The symptoms of the competition between general metabolites (sterols) and specialized metabolites (triterpenoids) were also observed, i.e., the increase of the sterol biosynthesis parallel to the decrease of the triterpenoid content in C. officinalis plant roots and hairy root culture, and the inverse phenomenon in shoots. The similarity of the metabolic modifications observed in the present study on C. officinalis plant roots and hairy roots confirmed the possibility of application of plant in vitro cultures in initial studies for physiological research on plant response to environmental stresses.     

Octanoic Acid—An Insecticidal Metabolite of Conidiobolus coronatus (Entomopthorales) That Affects Two Majors Antifungal Protection Systems in Galleria mellonella (Lepidoptera): Cuticular Lipids and Hemocytes

The food flavour additive octanoic acid (C8:0) is also a metabolite of the entomopathogenic fungus Conidiobolus coronatus, which efficiently infects and rapidly kills Galleria mellonella. GC-MS analysis confirmed the presence of C8:0 in insecticidal fraction FR3 extracted from C. coronatus filtrate. Topical administration of C8:0 had a dose-dependent effect on survival rates of larvae but not on pupation or adult eclosion times of the survivors. Topically applied C8:0 was more toxic to adults than larvae (LD100 for adults 18.33 ± 2.49 vs. 33.56 ± 2.57 µg/mg of body mass for larvae). The administration of C8:0 on the cuticle of larvae and adults, in amounts corresponding to their LD50 and LD100 doses, had a considerable impact on the two main defense systems engaged in protecting against pathogens, causing serious changes in the developmental-stage-specific profiles of free fatty acids (FFAs) covering the cuticle of larvae and adults and damaging larval hemocytes. In vitro cultures of G. mellonella hemocytes, either directly treated with C8:0 or taken from C8:0 treated larvae, revealed deformation of hemocytes, disordered networking, late apoptosis, and necrosis, as well as caspase 1–9 activation and elevation of 8-OHdG level. C8:0 was also confirmed to have a cytotoxic effect on the SF-9 insect cell line, as determined by WST-1 and LDH tests.     

Analysis of polymer foil heaters as infrared radiation sources

Infrared radiation as a heat source is used in many fields. In particular, the positive effect of far-infrared radiation on living organisms has been observed. This paper presents two technological solutions for infrared heater production using polymer-silver and polymer-carbon pastes screenprinted on foil substrates. The purpose of this work was the identification of polymer layers as a specific frequency range IR radiation sources. The characterization of the heaters was determined mainly by measurement of the surface temperature distribution using a thermovision camera and the spectral characteristics were determined using a special measuring system. Basic parameters obtained for both, polymer silver and polymer carbon heaters were similar and were as follows: power rating of 10–12 W/dm², continuous working surface temperature of 80–90 °C, temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) about +900 ppm/K for polymer-carbon heater and about +2000 ppm/K for polymer-silver, maximum radiation intensity in the wavelength range of 6–14 μm with top intensity at 8.5 μm and heating time about 20 min. For comparison purposes, commercial panel heater was tested. The results show that the characteristics of infrared polymer heaters are similar to the characteristics of the commercial heater, so they can be taken into consideration as the alternative infrared radiation sources.     

Multivitamin Analysis of Fruits, Fruit–Vegetable Juices, and Diet Supplements

Vitamins are organic compounds that are required for various biological functions. In general, vitamins are not synthesized in the human body, but lack or deficiency of them may lead to certain diseases. Determinations of 11 vitamins in various products were performed, which included ascorbic acid (C), seven vitamins of the B group (thiamine B₁, riboflavin B₂, nicotinamide B₃, pantothenic acid B₅, pyridoxine B₆, folic acid B₉, and cyanocobalamin B₁₂), as well as three fat-soluble vitamins (retinol A, cholecalciferol D₃, and α-tocopherol E). A column with RP18 stationary phase and a diode array detector with properly selected analytical wavelengths for each compound were used. A gradient of trifluoroacetic acid in water with methanol was used as the mobile phase. Limits of quantification in the range of 0.70–2.90 μg/mL for water-soluble vitamins and 1.85–15.84 μg/mL for fat-soluble vitamins were obtained. Those values are sufficient for determinations of the aforementioned compounds in foodstuff. The developed procedure of sample preparation together with chromatographic system can be used for food quality monitoring in the food industry.     

Electrospinning and Imaging

Polymer processing via electrospinning is a cost effective and scalable method for preparing nanofibers with industrial, electrical, and biomedical applications, particularly tissue engineering and drug delivery. Characterization methods for these fibers include microscopy techniques for vitro surface morphology information, spectroscopy methods to determine in vitro chemical composition, and medical imaging tools for in vivo assessment of morphology and efficacy of implanted material. The focus of this paper is be on recent applications for electrospun nanofibers, in vitro characterization methods, and medical imaging modalities that can be used for in vivo assessment of the fibers, as well as insights in how to adapt existing techniques toward the characterization of electrospun materials.     

Effect of stocking density and group size on growth performance,carcass traits and meat quality of outdoor-reared rabbits

The effect of stocking density (16 rabbits/m², 5 rabbits/m², 2.5 rabbits/m², n = 60, Experiment 1) and group size (4 rabbits/cage, 8 rabbits/cage, 16 rabbits/cage, n = 88, Experiment 2) on productive performance, carcass and meat quality of a slow-growing rabbit population reared outdoors was investigated in two experiments. The highest stocking density induced the highest skin percentage. Lower stocking densities showed lower lightness of Biceps femoris and higher redness of Longissimus lumborum muscles. Four rabbits/cage group (Experiment 2) showed the highest daily weight gain and slaughter weight and the lowest skin percentage. The muscles of 16 rabbits/cage showed significantly higher pHu than 8 and 4 rabbits/cage. BF of 16 and 4 rabbits/cage showed higher L* value. Productive performance and meat quality of rabbits reared outdoors improved in low group size while stocking density needs more experiments. The best combination of density, group size and total available surface that showed the best production and carcass traits was of 5 rabbits/m², 4 rabbits/cage, and 0.8 m².