In this study, we investigate the capability of energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXF) spectrometry in a triaxial geometry apparatus as a fast and nondestructive determination method of both dominant and contaminant elements in pharmaceutical iron supplements. The following iron supplements brands with their respective active ingredients were analyzed: Neutrofer fólico (iron gylcinate), Anemifer (iron(II) sulfate monohydrate), Noripurum (iron(III)-hydroxide polymaltose complex), Sulferbel (iron(II) sulfate monohydrate), and Combiron Fólico (carbonyl iron). Although we observe a good agreement between the iron content obtained by the present method and that indicated in the supplement's prescribed dose, we observe contamination by manganese and nickel of up to 180 μg and 36 μg, respectively. These contents correspond to 7.2% and 14.4% of the permitted daily exposure of manganese and nickel, respectively, for an average adult individual as determined by the European Medicine Agency (EMEA). The method was successfully validated against the concentrations of several certified reference materials of biological light matrices with similar concentrations of contaminants. Moreover, we also validated our method by comparing the concentrations with those obtained with the inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission technique.

During the course of evolution, the cellulosome, one of Nature's most intricate multi-enzyme complexes, has been continuously fine-tuned to efficiently deconstruct recalcitrant carbohydrates. To facilitate the uptake of released sugars, anaerobic bacteria use highly ordered protein-protein interactions to recruit these nanomachines to the cell surface. Dockerin modules located within a non-catalytic macromolecular scaffold, whose primary role is to assemble cellulosomal enzymatic subunits, bind cohesin modules of cell envelope proteins, thereby anchoring the cellulosome onto the bacterial cell. Here we have elucidated the unique molecular mechanisms used by anaerobic bacteria for cellulosome cellular attachment. The structure and biochemical analysis of five cohesin-dockerin complexes revealed that cell surface dockerins contain two cohesin-binding interfaces, which can present different or identical specificities. In contrast to the current static model, we propose that dockerins utilize multivalent modes of cohesin recognition to recruit cellulosomes to the cell surface, a mechanism that maximises substrate access while facilitating complex assembly.

Spectrochimica Acta Part B: Atomic Spectroscopy, 122 (2016) 114-117. doi:10.1016/j.sab.2016.06.006

The façades of St. Leonard’s church and the castle in Atouguia da Baleia village in western region of Portugal are monuments built in Middle Ages. Significant stone degradation patterns are visible, being the alveolization an outstanding case study.The more porous type of sandstones similar to the variety found in the vernacular architecture of Atouguia da Baleia was treated with ethyl silicates. In order to allow the study of the durability of these conservation treatments, accelerated artificial ageing salt crystallization tests were carried out and an automatic ageing chamber was developed.Physical and mechanical behaviour was assessed on consolidated specimens before and after accelerated artificial ageing salt crystallization tests. The authors propose a prediction of the durability of these consolidation treatments by means of the salt crystallization ageing results.

Five experimental cyclic tests were carried out on reinforced concrete rectangular columns with rounded corners, different condition (new and damaged) and different strengthening systems: that included confinement through carbon fiber (CFRP) jackets, anchor dowels, high strength repair mortar and external longitudinal stainless steel bars. Lateral load - displacement relationship, energy dissipation, ductility and curvature results were analyzed together with two different damage assessment classifications. The overall evaluation concludes that the use of external confinement with CFRP on RC columns is viable and of effective performance enhancement alone and combined with other techniques. Damaged columns that were retrofitted showed an increased load capacity up to 20% along with good ductile behavior within the limits of the US, European, Canadian and Japanese codes, with minor/moderate degree of damage at 1% drift ratio and moderate degree of damage at 2% drift ratio.

http://docentes.fct.unl.pt/lblm/files/methodsmolbiol-2016-1424-81.pdf

The purpose of this application, under Articles 78.1 and 81.1 of the Code, is to replace Diplodocus longus Marsh, 1878 as the type species of the sauropod dinosaur genus Diplodocus by the much better represented D. carnegii Hatcher, 1901, due to the undiagnosable state of the holotype of D. longus (YPM 1920, a partial tail and a chevron). The holotype of D. carnegii, CM 84, is a well-preserved and mostly articulated specimen. Casts of it are on display in various museums around the world, and the species has generally been used as the main reference for studies of comparative anatomy or phylogeny of the genus. Both species are known from the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation of the western United States. The genus Diplodocus is the basis for the family-level taxa diplodocinae Marsh, 1884, diplodocidae Marsh, 1884, diplodocimorpha Marsh, 1884 (Calvo & Salgado, 1995) and diplodocoidea Marsh, 1884 (Upchurch, 1995). It is also a specifier of at least 10 phylogenetic clades. With the replacement of D. longus by D. carnegii as type species, Diplodocus could be preserved as a taxonomic name with generally accepted content. Taxonomic stability of the entire clade diplodocoidea, and the proposed definitions of several clades within Sauropoda, could be maintained.

An alternative technique for production of devices which uses both silicon crystalline wafers (p-type) and heavy doped amorphous silicon thin films (n-type) is reported. The amorphous silicon acts as a finite source of dopant and is deposited (at low temperature, 70 °C) by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition on silicon wafers. Afterwards, the process of dopant diffusion into the crystalline silicon occurs in a diffusion furnace at 1000 °C for 2 h, to create p–n junctions. Using SIMS analyses, a dopant (P) transfer into c-Si of about 30% is verified and 87% of the dopant transferred is electrically active. Consequently, n-MOSFET devices are produced using a gate oxide thermally grown at the same diffusion temperature for one hour. The preliminary results of the MOSFET (channel length and width of 0.5 and 5 mm, respectively) show a depletion behavior with a threshold voltage, Vth=−8.2 V and afield-effect mobility, µ_FE=187.8 cm²/(Vs).

The interaction of light with wavelength-sized photonic nanostructures is highly promising for light management applied to thin-film photovoltaics. Several light trapping effects come into play in the wave optics regime of such structures that crucially depend on the parameters of the photonic and absorbing elements. Thus, multi-parameter optimizations employing exact numerical models, as performed in this work, are essential to determine the maximum photocurrent enhancement that can be produced in solar cells.Generalized spheroidal geometries and high-index dielectric materials are considered here to model the design of the optical elements providing broadband absorption enhancement in planar silicon solar cells. The physical mechanisms responsible for such enhancement are schematized in a spectral diagram, providing a deeper understanding of the advantageous characteristics of the optimized geometries. The best structures, composed of TiO2 half-spheroids patterned on the cells' top surface, yield two times higher photocurrent (up to 32.5 mA/cm2 in 1.5 μm thick silicon layer) than the same devices without photonic schemes.These results set the state-of-the-art closer to the theoretical Lambertian limit. In addition, the considered light trapping designs are not affected by the traditional compromise between absorption enhancement versus current degradation by recombination, which is a key technological advantage. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd.

Abstract This paper reports the first attempt of developing macro-scale auxetic structures based on re-entrant hexagon design from braided composite materials for civil engineering applications. Braided composite rods (BCRs) were produced and arranged as longitudinal and horizontal elements to produce three types of auxetic structures: (1) basic re-entrant hexagon structure, (2) basic structure modified by adding straight longitudinal elements and (3): structure-2 modified by changing structural angle. The influence of various material and structural parameters as well as structure type on Poisson's ratio and tensile properties was thoroughly investigated. The auxetic behaviour was found to strongly depend on the structural angle and straight elements, resulting in lower auxeticity with lower angles and in presence of straight elements. Material parameters influenced the auxetic behaviour to a lesser extent and a decrease in auxetic behaviour was noticed with increase in core fibre linear density and using stiffer fibres such as carbon. The reverse effect was observed in case of tensile strength and work of rupture. Among these structures, structure-3 exhibited good auxetic behaviour, balanced tensile properties, and high energy absorption capacity and their auxetic behaviour could be well predicted with the developed analytical model. Therefore, these novel structures present good potential for strengthening of civil structures.

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In this paper we review the properties of the difference-sign randomness test. First we analyse the exact andasymptotic distribution of the test statistic and provide a table with values for the exact distribution function, for samples ofsize n ≤ 32. Then, we also present several moments of the statistic test, under the null hypothesis of randomness and underthe hypothesis of the existence of a linear trend. Finally, we present an illustration of the test difference-sign to a real data set.In this paper we review the properties of the difference-sign randomness test. First we analyse the exact andasymptotic distribution of the test statistic and provide a table with values for the exact distribution function, for samples ofsize n ≤ 32. Then, we also present several moments of the statistic test, under the null hypothesis of randomness and underthe hypothesis of the existence of a linear trend. Finally, we present an illustration of the test difference-sign to a real data set.

We give a combinatorial characterization of conjugacy in the sylvester monoid, showing that conjugacy is decidable for this monoid. We then prove that conjugacy is undecidable in general for homogeneous monoids and even for multihomogeneous monoids.