On a stochastic disease model with vaccination

We propose a stochastic disease model where vaccination is included and such that the immunity isn’t permanent. The existence, uniqueness and positivity of the solution and the stability of disease free equilibrium is studied. The numerical simulation is done.     

Microplate-Based Evaluation of the Sugar Yield from Giant Reed,Giant Miscanthus and Switchgrass after Mild Chemical Pre-Treatments and Hydrolysis with Tailored <Emphasis Type="Italic">Trichoderma</Emphasis> Enzymatic Blends

Giant reed, miscanthus, and switchgrass are considered prominent lignocellulosic feedstocks to obtain fermentable sugars for biofuel production. The bioconversion into sugars requires a delignifying pre-treatment step followed by hydrolysis with cellulase and other accessory enzymes like xylanase, especially in the case of alkali pre-treatments, which retain the hemicellulose fraction. Blends richer in accessory enzymes than commercial mix can be obtained growing fungi on feedstock-based substrates, thus ten selected Trichoderma isolates, including the hypercellulolytic strain Trichoderma reesei Rut-C30, were grown on giant reed, miscanthus, or switchgrass-based substrates. The produced enzymes were used to saccharify the corresponding feedstocks, compared to a commercial enzymatic mix (6 FPU/g). Feedstocks were acid (H₂SO₄ 0.2–2%, w/v) or alkali (NaOH 0.02–0.2%, w/v) pre-treated. A microplate-based approach was chosen for most of the experimental steps due to the large number of samples. The highest bioconversion was generally obtained with Trichoderma harzianum Or4/99 enzymes (78, 89, and 94% final sugar yields at 48 h for giant reed, miscanthus, and switchgrass, respectively), with significant increases compared to the commercial mix, especially with alkaline pre-treatments. The differences in bioconversion yields were only partially caused by xylanases (maximum R ² = 0.5), indicating a role for other accessory enzymes.     

FTIR microspectroscopy of melanocytic skin lesions: a preliminary study

Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) microspectroscopy has been employed to investigate benign (ordinary dermal and Reed nevi), dysplastic and malignant (invasive melanoma) skin lesions through the analysis of spectral changes of melanocytes as well as in the evaluation of the presence of melanin. Hierarchical cluster analysis and principal component analysis led to a satisfactory separation of malignant from dysplastic and normal melanocytes. Also, on enlarging the clustering with spectra from Reed and dermal nevi, the multivariate analysis segregated well the spectral data into discrete clusters, allowing the obtaining of reliable average spectra for analysis at the molecular level of the main groups or components responsible for the biological and biochemical changes. The most significant spectral characteristics appear to be related to differences in secondary protein structures, in nucleic acid conformation, in intra- and intermolecular bonding. In all cases, supervised and unsupervised spectral analyses resulted in satisfactory agreement with histopathological findings.     

Synthesis of epoxy and aziridino malonyl peptidomimetics

Short malonyl dehydro peptides have been epoxidized using H₂O₂/Na₂WO₄ dihydrate. The obtained diastereomeric epoxides were separated by HPLC and successfully tested in the ring opening reaction with N-Boc l-cysteine methyl ester, to indicate their electrophilic behavior. Moreover, by a simple two-step reaction, the epoxy malonyl peptides can be converted into the corresponding aziridino malonyl peptides.     

A class of quasi-variational inequalities for adaptive image denoising and decomposition

We introduce a class of adaptive non-smooth convex variational problems for image denoising in terms of a common data fitting term and a support functional as regularizer. Adaptivity is modeled by a set-valued mapping with closed, compact and convex values, that defines and steers the regularizer depending on the variational solution. This extension gives rise to a class of quasi-variational inequalities. We provide sufficient conditions for the existence of fixed points as solutions, and an algorithm based on solving a sequence of variational problems. Denoising experiments with spatial and spatio-temporal image data and an adaptive total variation regularizer illustrate our approach.     

Direct chemical profiling of olive (Olea europaea) fruit epicuticular waxes by direct electrospray‐ultrahigh resolution mass spectrometry

In the present paper, an electrospray ionization (ESI)‐Orbitrap method is proposed for the direct chemical profiling of epicuticular wax (EW) from Olea europaea fruit. It constitutes a rapid and efficient tool suitable for a wide‐ranging screening of a large number of samples. In a few minutes, the method provides a comprehensive characterization of total EW extracts, based on the molecular formula of their components. Accurate mass measurements are obtained by ultrahigh resolution mass spectrometry, and compositional restrictions are set on the basis of the information available from previous studies of olive EW. By alternating positive and negative ESI modes within the same analysis, complementary results are obtained and a wide range of chemical species is covered. This provides a detailed compositional overview that otherwise would only be available by applying multiple analytical techniques. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

w-Stability and Clifford w-Regularity of Polynomial Rings

We investigate the transfer of w-stability and Clifford w-regularity from a domain D to the polynomial ring D[X]. We show that these two properties pass from D to D[X] when D is either integrally closed or it is Mori and w-divisorial.     

Clickable functionalization of liposomes with the gH625 peptide from Herpes simplex virus type I for intracellular drug delivery

Liposomes externally modified with the nineteen residues gH625 peptide, previously identified as a membrane‐perturbing domain in the gH glycoprotein of Herpes simplex virus type I, have been prepared in order to improve the intracellular uptake of an encapsulated drug. An easy and versatile synthetic strategy, based on click chemistry, has been used to bind, in a controlled way, several copies of the hydrophobic gH625 peptide on the external surface of 1,2‐dioleoyl‐sn‐glycero‐3‐phosphocholine (DOPG)‐based liposomes. Electron paramagnetic resonance studies, on liposomes derivatized with gH625 peptides, which are modified with the 2,2,6,6‐tetramethylpiperidine‐1‐oxyl‐4‐amino‐4‐carboxylic acid (TOAC) spin label in several peptide positions, confirm the positioning of the coupled peptides on the liposome external surface, whereas dynamic light scattering measurements indicate an increase of the diameter of the liposomes of approximately 30 % after peptide introduction. Liposomes have been loaded with the cytotoxic drug doxorubicin and their ability to penetrate inside cells has been evaluated by confocal microscopy experiments. Results suggest that liposomes functionalized with gH625 may act as promising intracellular targeting carriers for efficient delivery of drugs, such as chemotherapeutic agents, into tumor cells.