122,728 research outputs found
Combining cytotoxicity assessment and Xenopus laevis phenotypic abnormality assay as a predictor of nanomaterial safety
No full textThe African clawed frog, Xenopus laevis, has been used as an efficient pre-clinical screening tool to predict drug safety during the early stages of the drug discovery process. X. laevis is a relatively inexpensive model that can be used in whole organism high-throughput assays whilst maintaining a high degree of homology to the higher vertebrate models often used in scientific research. Despite an ever-increasing volume of biomedical nanoparticles (NPs) in development, their unique physico-chemical properties challenge the use of standard toxicology assays. Here, we present a protocol that directly compares the sensitivity of X. laevis development as a tool to assess potential NP toxicity by observation of embryo phenotypic abnormalities/lethality after NP exposure to in vitro cytotoxicity obtained using mammalian cell lines. In combination with conventional cytotoxicity assays, the X. laevis phenotypic assay provides accurate data to efficiently assess the safety of a novel biomedical NP
Conversion of Agro-industrial Wastes into Lipids Suitable for Biodiesel Production
No full textMicroorganisms that can accumulate lipids at more than 20% of their dry mass are defined as oleaginous species. The majority of these lipids are triacylglycerol containing long-chain fatty acids, which are comparable to conventional vegetable oils. The recent, increasing interest towards the oleaginous microorganisms is due to the potential use of microbial triglycerides as feedstock for biodiesel production.
The oleaginous yeasts used in this thesis work appear to be very promising, due to their versatility, as they allow the use of different kinds of residues as nutrients. In particular, Lipomyces starkeyi is so far one of the best used, as it has been proved to store large amounts of lipids.
Lipomyces starkeyi were first grown in the presence of olive oil mill wastewaters (OMW), a medium difficult to process by biological treatments, due to the antimicrobial activities of their phenolic components. We demonstrated that Lipomyces can produce, without external organic supplements, a significant reduction of both the total organic carbon (TOC) and the total phenols content, leading to a significant increase of the germination index. The fatty acid distribution showed a prevalence of oleic acid, demonstrating the potential of L. starkeyi as a source of lipids to be used as a feedstock for the synthesis of II generation biodiesel. The performance of Lipomyces was improved by a preliminary dilution of OMW.
Lipomyces were able to grow also in the presence of wastewaters from cheese factory, leading to a satisfactory growth and to a significant reduction of the TOC levels.
Cellulosic agricultural residues were also evaluated as feedstock for oleaginous yeasts. Lipomyces starkeyi were first grown in the hydrolysate of tomato wastes, containing mainly peel and seeds, at different nitrogen contents. The yeasts showed a favorable growth, with no need of addition of external nutrients.
Hydrolysates of Sorghum and Giant Reed were also studied as nutrients for the Lipomyces starkeyi. The conditions to maximize the lipid yield and the efficiency of the biomass conversion were found in terms of H2SO4 concentration (for the preliminary hydrolysis) and of medium composition (for the yeasts growth). Detoxification of hydrolysate with overlime and activated charcoal was carried out to reduce the concentration of microbial growth inhibitors, improving the growth of the yeasts in the undiluted hydrolysate.
In conclusion, the potential of oleaginous yeasts was demonstrated by the satisfactory microbial growth in the presence of different waste materials, and by the favorable composition of the triglycerides. Further studies are ongoing to optimize the preliminary hydrolysis of lignocellulosic materials and the lipid fraction of the yeasts
A Multi-Language Comparison of Influences on Author Verification using Character N-Grams
No full textWe create a new multi-language corpus for author verification based on Wikipedia talkpages, and evaluate the influence that differences in topic and time have on character n-gram author profiles. Topic alignment between two texts is found to increase author verification precision, and an authors writing style is found to change over time, but not more significantly after 3 years than after 1 year.Information ArchitectureWISElectrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Scienc
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
No full textWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
The vanishing author in computer-generated works: a critical analysis of recent Australian case law
No full textAbstract
The use of software is ubiquitous in the creation of many copyright works, yet the requirement in copyright law that every work have a human author who engages in independent intellectual effort means that its use may prevent copyright subsistence. Several recent Australian cases have refocused attention on authorship as an essential criterion of copyright subsistence, and these cases suggest that much computer-produced output may be authorless and thus lack copyright protection. This article, the first in a two-part series, analyses how each case deals with the question of authorship of computer-produced works and why the use of software diminishes copyright protection for a significant number of computer-generated works. The article critiques the application of conventional notions of human authorship developed in the pre-computer age to modern productions and suggests alternative approaches to authorship that satisfy both the major objectives of copyright policy and the need to adapt to the computer age. The article argues that, without a broader judicial approach to authorship of computer-generated works, Parliament must remedy the lacuna in protection for these ‘authorless’ works. Possible solutions for reform are suggested. In a forthcoming article, the author comprehensively examines those reform proposals
sj-docx-1-otj-10.1177_15394492231206994 – Supplemental material for Inclusivity in Occupational Participation: Life Stories of Bangladeshi With Spinal Cord Injury
No full textSupplemental material, sj-docx-1-otj-10.1177_15394492231206994 for Inclusivity in Occupational Participation: Life Stories of Bangladeshi With Spinal Cord Injury by Yeasir Arafat Alve, Salma Begum, Myrna Yousuf, Moses N. Ikiugu and Peter Bontje in OTJR: Occupational Therapy Journal of Research</p
sj-docx-2-otj-10.1177_15394492231206994 – Supplemental material for Inclusivity in Occupational Participation: Life Stories of Bangladeshi With Spinal Cord Injury
No full textSupplemental material, sj-docx-2-otj-10.1177_15394492231206994 for Inclusivity in Occupational Participation: Life Stories of Bangladeshi With Spinal Cord Injury by Yeasir Arafat Alve, Salma Begum, Myrna Yousuf, Moses N. Ikiugu and Peter Bontje in OTJR: Occupational Therapy Journal of Research</p
Diffusive author(s), cohesive author: Analysis of S/N (1994)
No full textThis study indicates the ways in which various aspects of the author(s) are brought forth in Dumb type’s performance art, the S/N production. Previous research has suggested a non-hierarchical organization of Dumb type and the absence of a “privileged author” in Dumb type’s collaborative work, S/N. However, the results that I have investigated from member’s interviews on the creative process of S/N along with my analysis of the recorded images of S/N, indicate a different aspect of the author(s). First, S/N was created through, so to speak, the collective ideas of the members of Dumb type. Further, S/N has at least nine quotations from previous performances, installations, and printed writings, besides the work-in-progress technique. Explicating one of the “author functions” as given by Michel Foucault, each text has plural subjects of the author. However, it has been revealed from members’ interviews that Teiji Furuhashi had a decision-making role in selecting the members’ ideas within the performance. Since then, S/N has had plural subjects of creation; however, Furuhashi is one of the subjects of creation along with the “privileged author.” S/N has plural authors (diffusive authors) yet at the same time, it has a “privileged author,” Teiji Furuhashi (cohesive author)
Thanasimus himalayensis ab. triangularis Corporaal 1939
No full text3. Thanasimus himalayensis ab. triangularis Corporaal, 1939b: 26–27 (Fig. 1c) Paratype: White label 1 stating “collection locality as Lodh, 5000 Ft Almora, U.P. [INDIA: Uttar Pradesh (Uttarakhand)], R. N. Parker, 21.vi.1923 ”. White label 2 stating “ J. B. Corporaal, Paratype, Thanasimus himalayensis stebb. ab. triangularis nov. sp. ”. Green label 3 stating “ Paratype ”. Holotype deposited in RMNH.Published as part of Faisal, Mohammad, Singh, Sudhir & Yousuf, Mohammad, 2014, Cleridae (Insecta: Coleoptera) type collection at National Forest Insect Collection (NFIC), Forest Research Institute, Dehradun (India), pp. 105-118 in Zootaxa 3846 (1) on page 107, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3846.1.5, http://zenodo.org/record/511089
Structures and electronic states of nickel-rich oxides for lithium ion batteries
No full textA new superstructure of layered pristine LiNiO2 (LNO) was obtained by first replicating 16 times the optimized structure of the 12-atom primitive cell of the R3m space group and then relaxing both cell parameters and internal positions. The structural optimization is accompanied by a very significant lowering of the internal energy. The R3m space group is the space group observed experimentally by XRD. In contrast to the structure commonly proposed in the literature, this new crystal structure, which still belongs to the R3m space group, shows size and charge disproportionation of the NiO6 octahedra. The charge disproportionation results in a change in the Ni oxidation state from Ni3+ calculated in the 12-atom primitive unit cell, to Ni4+ and almost Ni2+. This is the first time that such charge disproportionation has been calculated for the R3m crystal structure of LNO. The Ni-O bond length distribution of the new structure agrees well with experimental values. Our results show that the choice of the simulation unit cell is important for determining the energetics of this class of oxide material, proposed for cathodes in lithium ion batteries (LIBs). We used this new structure as a template for the study of the structural and electronic changes induced by delithiation and by Mn for Ni cation substitution, originating the solid solutions LiNiyMn(1-y)O2 (LNMO). Our results, surprisingly, agree well with existing experiments and explain observed trends better than previous studies.Correct atomistic models of LNO and LNMO (N = Nickel, M = Manganese) oxide materials are critical for a correct prediction of the charging and discharging behavior of Li-ion batteries with NMC cathodes
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