Search results for "STING"
showing 10 items of 3756 documents
An experimental investigation on performances recovery of glass fiber reinforced composites exposed to a salt-fog/dry cycle
2023
The main goal of this paper is the evaluation of the properties reversibility of glass fiber reinforced polymers (GFRPs) under discontinuous exposure to aggressive environmental conditions, typical of marine applications. To this aim, the GFRP manufactured through vacuum infusion process has been initially aged in humid conditions (i.e., exposure to salt-fog at 35 ◦C) for 15 and 30 days and then stored under controlled dry conditions (i.e., 50% R.H. and 23 ◦C) for times varying between 0 and 21 days. In order to evaluate the recover capability of this material, its water uptake has been monitored along the quasi-static flexural properties during the entire humid/dry cycle. Moreover, both 3D…
Amphiphilic Copolymers Based on Poly[(hydroxyethyl)-d,l-aspartamide]: A Suitable Functional Coating for Biocompatible Gold Nanostars
2013
Novel amphiphilic copolymers have been synthesized based on a biocompatible poly(hydroxyethylaspartamide) (PHEA) backbone, bearing both anchoring groups for gold nanoparticles, such as thiols and disulfide, and conjugable moieties, such as amino groups, the latter as points suitable for appending further functional agents. The strategy was to functionalize α,β-poly[(N-2- hydroxyethyl)-d,l-aspartamide] (PHEA) with PEG2000-NH2 and with ethylenediamine (EDA) obtaining a partially pegylated copolymer with a large number of pendant primary amino groups. A fraction of the latter was conjugated with molecules bearing terminal thiol moieties such as 12-mercaptododecanoic acid (MDA) and disulfide gr…
Partially Quarternized Amino Functional Poly(methacrylate) Terpolymers: Versatile Drug Permeability Modifiers
2011
Partially quarternized poly(methacrylate) terpolymers (Q-BBMCs) have been synthesized, based on the basic butylated methacrylate copolymer (BBMC/EUDRAGIT E), an excipient approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and to date mainly applied for tablet coatings. Via straightforward polymer modification reactions, a series of Q-BBMCs with quarternization degrees of 22%, 42%, and 65% has been prepared. Apical to basolateral transport across Caco-2 cell monolayers was investigated, employing the paracellular transported compounds trospium and mannitol. At pH 6.5 quarternization resulted in increased permeation enhancement up to 2.8-fold compared to BBMC, that is, up to 7.3-fold compared…
CRISPR-Cas12a-Based Detection of SARS-CoV-2 Harboring the E484K Mutation
2021
The novel respiratory virus SARS-CoV-2 is rapidly evolving across the world with the potential of increasing its transmission and the induced disease. Here, we applied the CRISPR-Cas12a system to detect, without the need of sequencing, SARS-CoV-2 genomes harboring the E484K mutation, first identified in the Beta variant and catalogued as an escape mutation. The E484K mutation creates a canonical protospacer adjacent motif for Cas12a recognition in the resulting DNA amplicon, which was exploited to obtain a differential readout. We analyzed a series of fecal samples from hospitalized patients in Valencia (Spain), finding one infection with SARS-CoV-2 harboring the E484K mutation, which was t…
Fluorescent Core/Shell Nanoparticles for Specific Cell‐Nucleus Staining
2008
The highly fluorescent perylene-3,4,9,10-tetracarboxdiimide (PDI) chromophore is a popular dye and pigment because of its excellent chemical, thermal, and photochemical stability. Due to these outstanding properties, there have been several successful applications of PDI chromophores in various fields. Water-soluble and fluorescent PDI dyes have been used in biological applications such as the in vitro staining of cells and proteins. The combination of water solubility and high fluorescence quantum yield still represents a challenging goal since PDI dyes have a strong tendency to form aggregates in aqueous solution even at very low concentrations. Water solubility and high fluorescence quan…
Necking behavior of low-density polyethylene-isotactic polypropylene blends: A morphological investigation
1984
The tensile behavior of low-density polyethylene-isotactic polypropylene blends was investigated at room temperature. Neck formation and propagation along the whole length of the samples were observed for the whole range of composition. This behavior, which is not indicated by most data available in the literature, was examined in relation to sample morphology by scanning electron microscopy. The results of this investigation indicated some differences between the morphology of these materials and the morphology of blends which do not undergo necking propagation.
Pharmacogenomics: questions and concerns
2005
The progressively aging population in the western world, rising socioeconomic expenditure and increasing costs for the treatment of adverse drug reactions, lead to increasing pressure on public spending. The public acceptance of pharmacogenomics is high, therefore, because it promises individualized safe and effective treatment at lower cost. Pharmacogenomics studies the genetic polymorphisms that underlie the variability in drug response between individuals. Despite the great benefits being awaited from this new field, a number of ethical, social and legal concerns arise, which demand rapid strict international regulations in order to prevent discrimination or harm of any kind from society…
Darwinism and pharmacogenomics: from 'one treatment fits all' to 'selection of the richest'?
2004
Pharmacogenomics and pharmacogenetics are relatively new fields, and have arisen from recent advances in genetic research. They offer new perspectives on the development of pharmaceuticals, allowing drug design to be targeted specifically to the genotype of selected populations. The discussion of who will be considered for the development of these tailored drugs and who will be excluded, in a situation in which both research resources and public expenditure are limited, is provoking and has led to several, still unanswered ethical questions and concerns about fairness and the potential discrimination of fringe groups. Based on the statistical analyses of population averages, patient groups …
Genetic diversity within the R408W phenylketonuria mutation lineages in Europe
2003
The R408W phenylketonuria mutation in Europe has arisen by recurrent mutation in the human phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH) locus and is associated with two major PAH haplotypes. R408W-2.3 exhibits a west-to-east cline of relative frequency reaching its maximum in the Balto–Slavic region, while R408W-1.8 exhibits an east-to-west cline peaking in Connacht, the most westerly province of Ireland. Spatial autocorrelation analysis has demonstrated that the R408W-2.3 cline, like that of R408W-1.8, is consistent with a pattern likely to have been established by human dispersal. Genetic diversity within wild-type and R408W chromosomes in Europe was assessed through variable number tandem repeat (VNT…
A discussion of potential exposure metrics for use in epidemiological studies on human exposure to radiowaves from mobile phone base stations
2000
There is currently a high level of concern in many countries that exposure to radiowaves from mobile phone base stations may be hazardous to health. When investigating such suggested risks, epidemiologists need to define an exposure metric that can reliably discriminate between exposed and unexposed groups of people. We conducted a feasibility study to investigate if either short-term measurements of electric field strength, calculations of electric field strength, or distance from nearby mobile phone base stations could be used to develop a metric reflecting an individual's exposure to radiowaves. With electric field strengths in the range of 0.012-0.343 V/m, radiowaves from mobile phone b…