Disposable Polymeric Nanostructured Plasmonic Biosensors for Cell Culture Adhesion Monitoring

Over the last years, optical biosensors based on plasmonic nanomaterials have gained great scientific interest due to their unquestionable advantages compared to other biosensing technologies. They can achieve sensitive, direct, and label-free analysis with exceptional potential for multiplexing and miniaturization. Recently, it has been demonstrated the potential of using optical discs as high throughput nanotemplates for the development of plasmonic biosensors in a cost-effective way. This work is a pilot study focused on the development of an integrated plasmonic biosensor for the monitoring of cell adhesion and growth of human retinal pigmented cell line (ARPE-19) under different media conditions (0 and 2% of FBS). We observed an increase of the plasmonic band displacement under 2% FBS compared to 0% conditions over time (1, 3, and 5 h). These preliminary results show that the proposed plasmonic biosensing approach is a direct, non-destructive, and real-time tool that could be employed in the study of living cells behavior and culture conditions. Furthermore, this setup could assess the viability of the cells and their growth over time with low variability between the technical replicates improving the experimental replicability.

Optical discs in zoological nomenclature: problems and proposed solution

According to the Code currently in force, taxonomic works presenting nomenclatural novelties published on optical discs may be nomenclaturally available only if published between 1985 and 2013, and respecting some conditions allowing their nomenclatural promulgation. These works will remain accessible to readers only as long as the technologies allowing to read such discs are available to all, but will become inaccessible when these technologies become obsolete. In order to overcome this technology dependence, the Linz Zoocode Committee has decided to publish facsimiles of these works, both on paper and online. For this to be possible, a list of these works needs to be built. We are therefore sending an appeal to the international community to provide information on all taxonomic works including nomenclatural novelties published so far on optical discs, whether available or not under the current Code.

Rotation curves and scaling relations of extremely massive spiral galaxies

We study the kinematics and scaling relations of a sample of 43 giant spiral galaxies that have stellar masses exceeding 1011 M⊙ and optical discs up to 80 kpc in radius. We use a hybrid 3D-1D approach to fit 3D kinematic models to long-slit observations of the Hα-$\rm{[N\, \small {II}]}$ emission lines and we obtain robust rotation curves of these massive systems. We find that all galaxies in our sample seem to reach a flat part of the rotation curve within the outermost optical radius. We use the derived kinematics to study the high-mass end of the two most important scaling relations for spiral galaxies: the stellar/baryonic mass Tully-Fisher relation and the Fall (mass-angular momentum) relation. All galaxies in our sample, with the possible exception of the two fastest rotators, lie comfortably on both these scaling relations determined at lower masses, without any evident break or bend at the high-mass regime. When we combine our high-mass sample with lower-mass data from the Spitzer Photometry & Accurate Rotation Curves catalog, we find a slope of α = 4.25 ± 0.19 for the stellar Tully-Fisher relation and a slope of γ = 0.64 ± 0.11 for the Fall relation. Our results indicate that most, if not all, of these rare, giant spiral galaxies are scaled up versions of less massive discs and that spiral galaxies are a self-similar population of objects up to the very high-mass end.

Cement Building Materials with Powdered Optical Discs as a Filler

The object of study is a cement composite material with powdered utilized optical discs. The objective is to establish the dependences of the main strength characteristics – com-pressive strength, bending strength, and density – on the amount of waste added into the mix-ture and the water-cement ratio.The compositions of the mixtures for the production of the cement composite material samples consisted of the following components: cement, sand, powdered waste in the form of utilized optical discs and water.Based on the results of testing the samples, mathematical models have been developed which describe the dependences of the physical and mechanical properties of the cement com-posite material samples on the fraction of waste and water-cement ratio. It was found that with an increase in the amount of powdered waste added into the mixture, it reduces the compressive strength, bending strength, and density of the samples under study, however, the optimization of the water-cement ratio makes it possible to obtain equal strength compositions with a differ-ent fraction of waste.Component compositions of cement composite material mixtures with the addition of powdered utilized optical discs in the amount of 10 to 25 % of the total filler mass, which can provide construction products with a compressive strength class B20, are presented.

Acute Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada: a case report

Context: Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease is an inflammatory disorder, which presents with intraocular, auditory and central nervous system involvement. It has two distinct courses: acute onset and chronic recurrence, whose differential diagnoses are, respectively, diseases of the optic neuromyelitis spectrum, and chronic meningitis. The diagnostic criteria developed by the international disease committee in 2001 classify patients into: probable disease (ocular findings only), incomplete (ocular plus cutaneous system or neurological manifestations) and complete (when the three forms occur together). Methods: Report the case of a patient seen at the emergency room of Santa Casa de São Paulo, diagnosed with Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease. Case report: 43-year-old woman, reporting occipital headache, with irradiation to the retro-orbital region, progressed to sudden bilateral amaurosis, in addition to conjunctival hyperemia. Neurological physical examination presented bilateral visual acuity (Snellen)> 20/200, poorly delimited optical discs. Uveitis and scleritis were also found. Brain and orbit MRI showed: bilateral retinal detachment, with small subretinal collections; regular thickening and impregnation of the choroid; tenuous episcleral impregnation; alteration of the sign of the inner ears, more evident in the cochleae; tenuous linear leptomeningeal impregnation at the level of the cerebellobulbar cistern. Liquor: 21 cells (99% lymphocytes), 31 proteins and 47 glucose, negative culture for bacteria. We proceeded to infusion 1000mg of methylprednisolone for 3 days, with daily use, subsequently, of prednisone 60mg, with significant improvement of the condition. Conclusions: It is a rare disease, but it must be recognized by every neurologist, since it is treatable and can leave serious visual sequelae.

From Print to Digital, from Document to Data: Digitalisation at the Publications Office of the European Union

Since the 1970s, the Publications Office of the European Union, the official publisher of all the institutions and bodies of the EU, has had to adapt to a fast-changing situation as the number of EU Member States has grown and the number and nature of publications has evolved (including publishing public tenders of EU institutions and Member States in 1978 through a supplement to the Official Journal of the European Union and handling CELEX, an interinstitutional and multilingual automated documentation system for community law, in 1992). These changes occurred over several ages of computing. The computerisation of the Publications Office was primarily a response to the need for rationalisation and productivity, but the aim was also to gradually adapt to new types of document publication and consultation. These different stages of digitalisation required the constant transfer of information to a multitude of media. Supports, such as punched cards, optical discs and CD-ROMs, had varying life expectancies and are all evidence of attempts to digitise information before the Web.This evolution not only illustrates the need to constantly harmonise a large amount of information, it also highlights some continuities. It affects the management of information systems but also meets regularly updated standardisation, interoperability and sustainability needs within a complex ecosystem.

Reuse of CD and DVD Wastes as Reinforcement in Gypsum Plaster Plates

The continuous and rapid evolution in the field of computing, and in particular in the field of storage devices, has led to the obsolescence of optical discs in favour of mass storage devices. In that sense, a large number of CDs and DVDs become obsolete each day in the world. In trying to create a recovery solution for those pieces, research in which polycarbonate (PC) waste from recycled discs have been used to develop new gypsum coating materials and products has been conducted. In a previous study, the physical and mechanical properties of new gypsum plasters, with PC waste as aggregate, were studied. Following that study, this article aims at creating new gypsum plaster false ceiling plates, using CD and DVD residues in different scenarios: as crushed aggregate in the gypsum matrix, as full reinforcement pieces of the plates and as a combination of both. The mechanical behaviour and the thermal conductivity of the new pieces have been analysed in this paper. The results showed an important improvement in the mechanical and thermal properties of the plates when the PC waste was used in many scenarios.

CEMENT BUILDING MATERIALS WITH POWDERED OPTICAL DISCS AS A FILLER

The object of study is a cement composite material with powdered utilized optical discs. The objective is to establish the dependences of the main strength characteristics – compressive strength, bending strength, and density – on the amount of waste added into the mixture and the water-cement ratio. The compositions of the mixtures for the production of the cement composite material samples consisted of the following components: cement, sand, powdered waste in the form of utilized optical discs and water. Based on the results of testing the samples, mathematical models have been developed which describe the dependences of the physical and mechanical properties of the cement composite material samples on the fraction of waste and water-cement ratio. It was found that with an increase in the amount of powdered waste added into the mixture, it reduces the compressive strength, bending strength, and density of the samples under study, however, the optimization of the water-cement ratio makes it possible to obtain equal strength compositions with a different fraction of waste. Component compositions of cement composite material mixtures with the addition of powdered utilized optical discs in the amount of 10 to 25 % of the total filler mass, which can provide construction products with a compressive strength class B20, are presented.