Search results for " Alkali"

A Novel Biomimetic Approach to Repair Enamel Cracks/Carious Damages and to Reseal Dentinal Tubules by Amorphous Polyphosphate.

2017

Based on natural principles, we developed a novel toothpaste, containing morphogenetically active amorphous calcium polyphosphate (polyP) microparticles which are enriched with retinyl acetate (“a-polyP/RA-MP”). The spherical microparticles (average size, 550 ± 120 nm), prepared by co-precipitating soluble Na-polyP with calcium chloride and supplemented with retinyl acetate, were incorporated into a base toothpaste at a final concentration of 1% or 10%. The “a-polyP/RA-MP” ingredient significantly enhanced the stimulatory effect of the toothpaste on the growth of human mesenchymal stem cells (MSC). This increase was paralleled by an upregulation of the MSC marker genes for osteoblast differ…

Role of ATP during the initiation of microvascularization: acceleration of an autocrine sensing mechanism facilitating chemotaxis by inorganic polyph…

2018

The in vitro tube formation assay with human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) was applied to identify the extra- and intracellular sources of metabolic energy/ATP required for cell migration during the initial stage of microvascularization. Extracellularly, the physiological energy-rich polymer, inorganic polyphosphate (polyP), applied as biomimetic amorphous calcium polyP microparticles (Ca-polyP-MP), is functioning as a substrate for ATP generation most likely via the combined action of the alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and the adenylate kinase (AK). The linear Ca-polyP-MP with a size of 40 phosphate units, close to the polyP in the acidocalcisomes in the blood platelets, were found …

Prospective comparison of Fibroscan, King's score and liver biopsy for the assessment of cirrhosis in chronic hepatitis C infection

2010

Historically, liver biopsy (LB) was the sole method to evaluate the severity of hepatic fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis C infection. However, LB is expensive and associated with a risk of severe complications. Therefore, noninvasive tests have been developed to assess the severity of liver fibrosis. The accuracy of Fibroscan (FS) and King's score (KS) was evaluated individually and in combination using liver histology as the reference standard. One hundred and eighty-seven patients were identified who had undergone a biopsy with a diagnosis of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) mono-infection (HCV RNA-positive by RT-PCR), attending King's College Hospital (n = 88) or the Royal Free…

Geochemical constraints on basalt petrogenesis in the Strait of Sicily Rift Zone (Italy): Insights into the importance of short lengthscale mantle he…

2020

Igneous activity from the late Miocene to historic time (most recently 1891 CE) in the Strait of Sicily has created two volcanic islands (Pantelleria and Linosa) and several seamounts. These volcanoes are dominated by transitional (ol + hy-normative) to alkaline (ne-normative) basaltic lavas and scoriae; volcanic felsic rocks (peralkaline trachyte-rhyolite) crop out only on Pantelleria. Although most likely erupted through continental crust, basalts demonstrate no evidence of crustal contamination and are geochemically similar to oceanic island basalts (OIB). Despite their isotopic similarities, there are considerable compositional differences with respect to major and trace element geochem…

Assessment of Postharvest Dehydration Kinetics and Skin Mechanical Properties of “Muscat of Alexandria” Grapes by Response Surface Methodology

2016

The dipping of berries in a dilute solution of sodium hydroxide during a short time was evaluated as pretreatment undertaken prior to convective dehydration of wine grapes. The impact of the sodium hydroxide content and dipping time on weight loss (WL) at different dehydration times was thoroughly assessed using central composite design (CCD) and response surface methodology (RSM). Furthermore, the effects of these two variables were also investigated on the skin mechanical properties of dehydrated grapes. The effect of these two pretreatment factors on the dehydration kinetics and skin hardness was satisfactorily fitted to regression models. The berry pretreatment with low sodium hydroxide…

Eulerian two-fluid model of alkaline water electrolysis for hydrogen production

2020

Hydrogen storage is a promising technology for storage of renewable energy resources. Despite its high energy density potential, the development of hydrogen storage has been impeded, mainly due to its significant cost. Although its cost is governed mainly by electrical energy expense, especially for hydrogen produced with alkaline water electrolysis, it is also driven by the value of the cell tension. The most common means of electrolyzer improvement is the use of an electrocatalyst, which reduces the energy required for electrochemical reaction to take place. Another efficient means of electrolyzer improvement is to use the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)-assisted design that allows the…

Photosensitivity of SiO2–Al and SiO2–Na glasses under ArF (193 nm) laser

2009

Abstract Photosensitivity of SiO 2 –Al and SiO 2 –Na glass samples was probed by means of the induced optical absorption and luminescence as well as by electron spin-resonance (ESR) after irradiation with excimer-laser photons (ArF, 193 nm). Permanent visible darkening in the case of SiO 2 –Al and transient, life time about one hour, visible darkening in the case of SiO 2 –Na was found under irradiation at 290 K. No darkening was observed at 80 K for either kind of material. This investigation is dedicated to revealing the electronic processes responsible for photosensitivity at 290 and 80 K. The photosensitivity of both materials is related to impurity defects excited directly in the case …

Determination and comparison of acidic gas ratios at the Stromboli Volcano and Mount Etna obtained by various active alkaline traps

2013

Effectiveness of sodium acetate treatment on the mechanical properties and morphology of natural fiber-reinforced composites

2021

This paper aims to investigate the ability of an eco-friendly and cheap treatment based on sodium acetate solutions to improve the mechanical properties of flax fiber-reinforced composites. Flax fibers were treated for 5 days (i.e., 120 h) at 25 °C with mildly alkaline solutions at 5%, 10% and 20% weight content of the sodium salt. Quasi-static tensile and flexural tests, Charpy impact tests and dynamical mechanical thermal (DMTA) tests were carried out to evaluate the mechanical properties of the resulting composites. Fourier transform infrared analysis (FTIR) was used to evaluate the chemical modification on the fibers surface due to the proposed treatment, whereas scanning electron micro…

Spatial analysis of the relationship between mortality from cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease and drinking water hardness

2004

Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't; Reproduced with permission from Environmental Health Perspectives. Previously published scientific papers have reported a negative correlation between drinking water hardness and cardiovascular mortality. Some ecologic and case-control studies suggest the protective effect of calcium and magnesium concentration in drinking water. In this article we present an analysis of this protective relationship in 538 municipalities of Comunidad Valenciana (Spain) from 1991-1998. We used the Spanish version of the Rapid Inquiry Facility (RIF) developed under the European Environment and Health Information System (EUROHEIS) research project. The strateg…