The chemical structure of the very young starless core L1521E

L1521E is a dense starless core in Taurus that was found to have relatively low molecular depletion by earlier studies, thus suggesting a recent formation. We aim to characterize the chemical structure of L1521E and compare it to the more evolved L1544 pre-stellar core. We have obtained $\sim$2.5$\times$2.5 arcminute maps toward L1521E using the IRAM-30m telescope in transitions of various species. We derived abundances for the species and compared them to those obtained toward L1544. We estimated CO depletion factors. Similarly to L1544, $c$-C$_3$H$_2$ and CH$_3$OH peak at different positions. Most species peak toward the $c$-C$_3$H$_2$ peak. The CO depletion factor derived toward the $Herschel$ dust peak is 4.3$\pm$1.6, which is about a factor of three lower than that toward L1544. The abundances of sulfur-bearing molecules are higher toward L1521E than toward L1544 by factors of $\sim$2-20. The abundance of methanol is similar toward the two cores. The higher abundances of sulfur-bearing species toward L1521E than toward L1544 suggest that significant sulfur depletion takes place during the dynamical evolution of dense cores, from the starless to pre-stellar stage. The CO depletion factor measured toward L1521E suggests that CO is more depleted than previously found. Similar CH$_3$OH abundances between L1521E and L1544 hint that methanol is forming at specific physical conditions in Taurus, characterized by densities of a few $\times$10$^4$ cm$^{-3}$ and $N$(H$_2$)$\gtrsim$10$^{22}$ cm$^{-2}$, when CO starts to catastrophically freeze-out, while water can still be significantly photodissociated, so that the surfaces of dust grains become rich in solid CO and CH$_3$OH, as already found toward L1544. Methanol can thus provide selective crucial information about the transition region between dense cores and the surrounding parent cloud.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A, abstract abridge

Analysis of water vapor LIDAR measurements during the MAP campaign: evidence of sub-structures of stratospheric intrusions

This paper presents two case studies of transport of dry air in the free troposphere measured by a ground based Raman LIDAR in the Northern-Italy, during the Mesoscale Alpine Programme (MAP). Two observations characterized by the presence of anomalously dry layers, below 6 km height, were analyzed using Lagrangian techniques. These events are related to upper-tropospheric, high Potential Vorticity (PV) streamers crossing the Alpine region. These are interpreted as small-scale features of stratospheric intrusions associated with the PV ridge during its phase of dissipation. One of the measurements also shows the presence of two distinct dehydrated structures associated with the same event. The water vapor concentration also suggests dilution processes of dry stratospheric air in the troposphere. Lagrangian simulations allowed to successfully reproduce the observed water vapor distribution and the air parcel histories confirmed the stratospheric origin of the dry layers

Control of field quality for the production of the main LHC dipoles

We review the warm magnetic measurements of the first four main dipole prototypes (8 apertures) and their agreement with nominal design. We then estimate the order of magnitude of the corrections that may be needed to re-center the low-order normal harmonics around the nominal values for the forthcoming series production. Correction strategies that provide the minumum impact on production schedule and costs are analysed. For the case of b3 and b5 two possibilities are considered: a variation of the shims to optimize the azimuthal length of the two coil layers, and a variation of the copper wedges of the inner layer, leaving unchanged the azimuthal coil size. For optimizing b2 and b4, we consider modifications of the shape of the ferromagnetic insert, that is placed between the collars and the yoke. Comparison between measurements and simulations of the implemented insert modifications are given and a final design is proposed. Intrinsic limits to the control of field quality during the production are discussed

Lab-on-Chip for Testing Myelotoxic Effect of Drugs and Chemicals

This paper was presented at the 4th Micro and Nano Flows Conference (MNF2014), which was held at University College, London, UK. The conference was organised by Brunel University and supported by the Italian Union of Thermofluiddynamics, IPEM, the Process Intensification Network, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, the Heat Transfer Society, HEXAG - the Heat Exchange Action Group, and the Energy Institute, ASME Press, LCN London Centre for Nanotechnology, UCL University College London, UCL Engineering, the International NanoScience Community, www.nanopaprika.eu.In the last twenty years, one of the main goals in the drug discovery field has been the development of reliable in vitro models. In particular, in 2006 the European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods (ECVAM) has approved the Colony forming Unit-Granulocytes-Macrophages (CFU-GM) test, which is the first and currently unique test applied to evaluate the myelotoxicity of xenobiotics in vitro. The present work aimed at miniaturizing this in vitro assay by developing and validating a Lab-on-Chip (LoC) platform consisting of a high number of bioreactor chambers with screening capabilities in a high-throughput regime

Avaliação do raio de ação de armadilha Delta iscada com o feromônio sexual sintético de Grapholita molesta (Lepidoptera, Tortricidae), em pomares de pessegueiro.

Neste trabalho foi determinado o raio de ação do atrativo sexual de G. molesta (Iscalure Grapholita® ISCA Tecnologias) em armadilhas Delta, em pomares de pessegueiro

Avaliação da mortalidade através do contato de machos de Grapholita molesta (Lepidoptera, Tortricidae) com o produto Splat Cida Grafo Bona.

Este trabalho teve como objetivo avaliar a mortalidade de machos de Grapholita molesta por contato com o Splat Cida Grafo Bona

High-throughput microfluidic platform for adherent single cells non-viral gene delivery

The widespread use of gene therapy as a therapeutic tool relies on the development of DNA-carrying vehicles devoid of any safety concerns. In contrast to viral vectors, non-viral gene carriers show promise in this perspective, although their low transfection efficiency leads to the necessity to carry out further optimizations. In order to overcome the limitations of traditional macroscale approaches, which mainly consist of time-consuming and simplified models, a microfluidic strategy has been developed to carry out transfection studies on single cells in a high-throughput and deterministic fashion. A single cell trapping mechanism has been implemented, based on the dynamic variation of fluidic resistances. For this purpose, we designed a round-shaped culture chamber integrated with a bottom trapping junction, which modulates the hydraulic resistance. Several layouts of the chamber were designed and computationally validated for optimization of the single cell trapping efficacy. The optimized chamber layout was integrated in a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microfluidic platform presenting two main functionalities: (i) 288 chambers for trapping single cells, and (ii) a serial dilution generator with chaotic mixing properties, able to deliver to the chambers both soluble factors and non-diffusive particles (i.e., polymer/DNA complexes, polyplexes) under spatio-temporally controlled chemical patterns. The devices were experimentally validated and allowed the trapping of individual human glioblastoma–astrocytoma epithelial-like cells (U87-MG) with a trapping efficacy of about 40%. The cells were cultured within the device and underwent preliminary transfection experiments using 25 kDa linear polyethylenimine (lPEI)-based polyplexes, confirming the potentiality of the proposed platform for the future high-throughput screening of gene delivery vectors and for the optimization of transfection protocols

High-Throughput Microfluidic Platform for 3D Cultures of Mesenchymal Stem Cells, Towards Engineering Developmental Processes

The development of in vitro models to screen the effect of different concentrations, combinations and temporal sequences of morpho-regulatory factors on stem/progenitor cells is crucial to investigate and possibly recapitulate developmental processes with adult cells. Here, we designed and validated a microfluidic platform to (i) allow cellular condensation, (ii) culture 3D micromasses of human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (hBM-MSCs) under continuous flow perfusion, and (ii) deliver defined concentrations of morphogens to specific culture units. Condensation of hBM-MSCs was obtained within 3 hours, generating micromasses in uniform sizes (56.2 ± 3.9 μm). As compared to traditional macromass pellet cultures, exposure to morphogens involved in the first phases of embryonic limb development (i.e. Wnt and FGF pathways) yielded more uniform cell response throughout the 3D structures of perfused micromasses (PMMs), and a 34-fold higher percentage of proliferating cells at day 7. The use of a logarithmic serial dilution generator allowed to identify an unexpected concentration of TGFβ3 (0.1 ng/ml) permissive to hBM-MSCs proliferation and inductive to chondrogenesis. This proof-of-principle study supports the described microfluidic system as a tool to investigate processes involved in mesenchymal progenitor cells differentiation, towards a ‘developmental engineering’ approach for skeletal tissue regeneration

Effects of genetic and agronomic factors on grain composition in oats

The effects of genetic variability and agronomic practises on the chemical compounds of the grain were evaluated in a set of oat cultivars (16 naked and four husked) grown in different experiments in the years 2004–2008. In the first experiment, carried out for two years, β-glucan and Total Dietary Fibre (TDF) from eight oat cultivars, grown under three different levels of nitrogen fertilization and two seed doses, were considered. The second experiment, involving 12 cultivars for two years, explored the variation of β-glucan solubility and further characterized six cultivars for the content of TDF and arabinoxylans. In both experiments, genotype was found to exert the largest effect on the grain composition; nitrogen levels and seed doses had positive significant effects on protein and β-glucan contents, but did not affect fibre content. Among the naked cultivars, Irina, Abel, Luna, Hendon and Expression showed a good ability to accumulate the examined grain compounds. However, in general, the highest contents of protein and β-glucan were found in the groats of husked cultivars, suggesting that specific breeding programs are a crucial step to identify the suitable naked oat genotypes to produce foods of high nutritional value

Optical In-Situ Measurement of Relative Deformations of the LHC Main Dipole Cold Masses

The LHC cryodipoles are composed of an evacuated cryostat and a cold mass, which is cooled by superfluid helium at 1.9 K. To obey constraints imposed by beam dynamics the particle beams must be centered within the mechanical axis of the dipole with a sub-millimeter accuracy. This requires in turn that the relative displacements between the cryostat and the cold mass must be monitored with accuracy at all times. Because of the extreme environmental conditions (the displacement must be measured in vacuum and between two points at a temperature difference of about 300 degrees), no adequate existing monitoring system was found for this application. We describe here a novel optical sensor developed for our scope and we present results of measurements made during the cold test of the dipoles