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In this work novel hybrid materials for drug delivery purposes are obtained by combining keratin with hydrotalcite nanoparticles containing diclofenac. The hybrid films showed a less pronounced swelling, porosity and degradation and a greater thermal stability compared to pure keratin films containing free diclofenac. These results, together with the slight shift towards smaller wavelength numbers of amide I band led to the hypothesis of a probable cross-linking between hydrotalcites and the protein mediated by glutaraldehyde, which results in a total reinforcing action on the hybrid material. In addition, diclofenac release profiles of the hybrid film in physiological conditions were higher than those of the non-hybrid compound. Furthermore, keratin/hydrotalcite were able to support fibroblast cells adhesion and growth suggesting their potential use as drug delivery systems for wound healing and tissue engineering applications.

High level expression of histone deacetylase 1 (HDAC1) plays a pivotal role in the pathobiology of cancer [1]. The endogenous fatty acid (9R)-9-hydroxystearic acid, 9R, is a natural HDAC1 inhibitor, which exerts its antiproliferative activity by arresting cancer cells growth in G0/G1 phase [2]. However, one of its major limitations is the unfavorable pharmacokinetic that hampers its therapeutic effectiveness. To overcome this constraint, 9R keratin nanoparticles (9R@Ker) were prepared and described here for the first time. Keratin was selected as carrier because possesses excellent biocompatibility and low toxicity to cells, thus resulting very promising material for drug delivery applications [3]. The formation of 200 nm nanoparticles (NPs) was induced by hydrophobic interactions between 9R and the hydrophobic protein domains, affording water-stable NPs with no need of toxic cross-linking agents. NPs were characterized in terms of particles size distribution, zeta potential, morphology, thermogravimetric behavior and drug release profile. Moreover, in vitro uptake and cytotoxicity was evaluated using human colorectal adenocarcinoma cells (HT29). Our data revealed that 9R@Ker are efficiently internalized by tumor cells, altering membrane lipidic composition. In vitro results demonstrate that the activity of 9R as free or loaded onto NPs is similar in terms of anti-proliferative effect. Remarkably, some significant differences were observed in the cell cycle analysis, showing that while free 9R caused a growth arrest in the G0/G1 phase, 9R@Ker induced a S phase arrest, thus promoting apoptosis (Fig.1). Additional studies are ongoing to better elucidate the underpinning biochemical mechanism of action of our newly developed delivery system.

In this work, keratin sponges (Ks) containing magnetic MgFe hydrotalcites (HTlc) nanoparticles were prepared by freeze-drying and tested as 3D scaffolds for tissue regeneration. HTlc nanoparticles were well dispersed in the protein matrix and preserved their lamellar structure. The obtained hybrid materials showed a mean pore diameter of about 48 μm and a swelling ratio of about 6, higher than that of pure Ks (~ 4). Magnetic measurements indicated that the Ks-HTlc samples were magnetized more easily that the pure HTlc ones. Finally, the cell viability test, performed on osteoblasts under the effect of an applied static magnetic field, showed a substantial increase in cellular activity in the hybrid Ks-HTlc sponges compared to the nonmagnetic Ks sponges. Taken together, the reported results indicate that combining keratin with magnetic HTlc nanoparticles is a good strategy to obtain innovative 3D scaffold of potential interest in tissue regeneration, especially bone.

Blends of wool keratin and polyamide 6 (PA6) have shown interesting adsorbent properties in filtration. In this work, the miscibility of keratin and PA6 was studied for the first time through rheological measurements of diluted blend solutions. In particular, the immiscibility between the two polymers in different blend proportions was observed by the segregation of phases in the cast films. Nevertheless, notwithstanding the immiscibility, we demonstrate here that homogeneous keratin/PA6 blend nanofibers can be obtained by electrospinning as a result of rapid solvent evaporation, where kinetic effects prevail on thermodynamic effects, thereby avoiding phase segregation. The obtained nanofibers have diameters ranging from 100 to 250nm, depending on the experimental conditions. We show, through a principal component analysis (PCA) that the percentage of keratin represents the most important variable to determine nanofiber diameters. Collectively, this study represents a successful case of immiscible electrospinning system for production of useful nanofibers as adsorbent material for different applications. Keywords: Protein, Keratin, Blend, Cast film, Electrospinning

The technological quest for flexible devices to be interfaced with the biological world has driven the recent reinvention of bioderived polymers as multifunctional active and passive constituent elements for electronic and photonic devices to use in the biomedical field. Keratin is one of the most important structural proteins in nature to be used as biomaterial platform in view of the recently reported advances in the extraction and processing from hair and wool fibers. In this article we report for the first time the simultaneous use of naturally extracted keratin as both active ionic electrolyte for water ions sensing and as bendable and insoluble substrate into the same multielectrode array-based device. We implemented the multifunctional system exclusively made by keratin as a bendable sensor for monitoring the humidity flow. The enhancement of the functional and structural properties of keratin such as bendability and insolubility were obtained by unprecedented selective chemical doping. The mechanisms at the basis of the sensing of humidity in the device were investigated by cyclic voltammetry and rationalized by reversible binding and extraction of water ions from the volume of the keratin active layer, while the figures of merit of the biopolymer such as the ionic conductivity and relaxation time were determined by means of electrical impedance and dielectric relaxation spectroscopy. A reliable linear correlation between the controlled-humidity level and the amperometric output signal together with the assessment on measure variance are demonstrated. Collectively, the fine-tuned ionic-electrical characterization and the validation in controlled conditions of the free-standing insoluble all-keratin made microelectrode array ionic sensor pave the way for the effective use of keratin biopolymer in wearable or edible electronics where conformability, reliability and biocompatibility are key-enabling features.

ToThe Editor,Journal of Atmospheric Science ResearchSir/Madam,SUBJECT: Withdrawal of Article from your journal 2. I/We wish to withdraw my/our Article which has been Submitted/Submitted and accepted at your end/ Submitted, Accepted and Published by you3. The Details of my/our Article are as below:Article TitleHigh-Resolution Radiometer for Remote Sensing of Solar Flare Activity from Low Earth Orbit SatellitesDate of Submission20/12/2018Status of article (Under review/Accepted/Published)PublishedIn case the Article is already published, the Issue & Volume of the JournalVol 1, No 1 (2018)Reason(s) for Withdrawal of ArticleThe material that I used has been created in collaboration with other authors, to whom I did not request permission. This was due not to malicious intentions, but due to my superficial behavior induced by the extreme hurry with which I had to prepare the article.Name of the Corresponding AuthorLuca AluigiName(s) of the Other Author(s) (If any)Signature(s) of the Author(s)affirming that he/they agree with the Corresponding Author in requesting the Withdrawal/Retraction of this Article12 4. Disclaimer:I / I and my Co-Authors have carefully read the ‘Article Withdrawal and Retraction Policy (the Policy)’ of the Journal and agree to abide by the same.The Decision of the Editorial Board is final and shall be binding on me/us. The legality of the Decision will not be challenged anytime in any Court of Law.Submitted for the consideration of the Editor.Luca Aluigi Date: 25/02/2019

Solar flares, intense bursts of radiation, can disrupt the atmosphere and potentially affect communication, navigation and electrical systems. A newly developed miniaturised microwave radiometer used on a space-borne platform should offer astronomers unprecedented understanding of the largest explosive phenomena in our solar system. In this paper the activity and results of the EU funded research project FLARES are presented. Objective of FLARES has been the study, analysis and design of millimetre-wave (mm-wave) system-on-chip (SoC) radiometer for space-borne detection of solar flares. The proposed approach has contributed to reduce significantly the power consumption and weight with respect to the existing instruments for the observation and study of solar flares. In particular, the proposed SoC Dicke radiometer can achieve one order of magnitude improvement in terms of resolution, so allowing the detection of solar flares with relatively low intensity, i.e. about 100 times lower than those currently detected by the existing systems, owing to space-borne operations and the microchip-level miniaturization through silicon technology under space qualification.

This work describes the preparation of a novel substrate based on keratin extracted from wool and its application as potential support for solution-processed organic solar cells. Optically transparent, free-standing, and resistant keratin films are successfully prepared, starting from water solution, and characterized in terms of morphology, structure, thermal and mechanical properties. The effect of solvents and thermal annealing is also investigated in order to mimic and evaluate the impact of the processing conditions used for devices fabrication. Thermally annealed keratin films exhibit enhanced optical transparency (>87%) in the visible region of the spectrum, a transition from alpha-helix to beta-sheet and turn structures, improved thermal stability and Young's modulus. The good transparency, flatness, and resistance of as-cast substrates allow the successful preparation of organic solar cells. Photovoltaic performances similar to those reported for other natural/biobased supports are achieved, confirming the potential of keratin film as an alternative and promising support material for eco-friendly, fully printable, sustainable, and inexpensive optoelectronic devices.

This work investigates the preparation of wool keratin sponges by freeze-drying procedure starting form keratin aqueous solutions. The study highlights the correlations between process parameters (protein concentration and freezing rate) and the chemical-physical properties of the final sponges.In particular, as the keratin concentration increases from 1 to 20% wt, the mean pore size and the porosity decrease from 62 to 37 μm and from 94 to 50% respectively, while the chemical stability in physiological conditions increases, as well as the thermal stability and the elastic modulus. On the other hand, the increase of the freezing rate affects the design of sponges that appear as stacked leaflets structures with oriented pores.Moreover, in order to confer to keratin sponges antioxidant properties, polydopamine (PDA) nanoparticles were used as fillers. To this end, PDA nanoparticles of about 130 nm were successfully dispersed in the sponges, bestowing time-dependent anti-oxidant properties on the scaffolds, with no significant modification of sponges morphological structure as well as reduction of the thermal stability and mechanical behaviour. Keywords: Keratin, Polydopamine, Scavenging activity, Pore structure, Tissue engineering

In this paper a novel, fast and accurate derivatives pricing method based on the application of the Chapman-Kolmogorov equation is introduced. It has an intuitive lattice representation and is able to price a wide range of derivatives. Comparisons with some advanced exotic options pricing techniques are also provided in order to confirm the efficiency of the method proposed.

Keratin is a high-sulphur content protein, highly abundant in nature since it is the major component of feathers, hair, wool, horns and nails. In recent years, keratin-based materials have received great consideration due to its unique features in terms of ability to absorb heavy metals and other toxic compounds, thus resulting particularly useful for water and air purification. Moreover, due to its intrinsic efficacy in promoting cells growth, along with its ability to encapsulate both hydrophobic and hydrophilic drugs, keratin has been increasingly studied for the preparation of a wide range of bio-medical devices, especially in the field of tissue engineering and controlled drug delivery. Extraction of keratin from low-cost biomasses deriving from food industry by-products (especially slaughterhouse, dairy and poultry industry) is a challenging process hampered by the presence of a high content of disulphide bonds that bestow the protein with high resistance to chemical, enzymatic and thermal treatments. Thus, the large-scale use of keratin strongly depends on the development of cost-effective and time-efficient extraction methods. This chapter gives an overview on the availability of different keratinous biomasses and examines the various extraction methods proposed in the literature, underlining their advantages and limitations. Moreover, a detailed comparison between the chemical–physical properties of keratins obtained from different biomasses is here reported.

This paper presents a scalable 28 GHz beamforming system for 5G automotive connectivity, based on 2×2 TRX beamforming core chips and patch antenna arrays. In particular, the design of two key elements of the system is presented, namely the patch antenna and the power amplifier. The antenna has a gain of 7.5 dB. At 28 GHz the power amplifier delivers a maximum output power of 13.5 dBm, with an output referred P1dB of 13 dBm, a gain of 21.8 dB and peak PAE of 15.3%. Exploiting these results, the proposed system can deliver an EIRP of 34.5 dBm with a full 360-degree coverage of the azimuth angle.

Hydrotalcites-like compounds, also known as anionic clays or layered double hydroxides, represent the only example of lamellar solid with positively charged layers and exchangeable interlayer anions. In this study, a nanostructured HTlc with formula [Zn0.72Al0.28(OH)2] Br0.28·0.69 H2O was used as inorganic drug delivery system for anticancer therapy. Two different molecules were selected for being separately intercalated into ZnAl-HTlc: the anticancer drug norcantharidin, known for inducing cell cycle arrest at G2/M phase, and the tetra-sulfonated aluminum phthalocyanine, a photosensitizer used in anticancer photodynamic therapy. The obtained hybrid ZnAl-HTlc, were characterized in terms of X-ray powder diffraction pattern, thermogravimetric analysis, scanning electron microscopy, drug release profile, in vitro cytotoxicity, and ability to produce ROS and 1O2 upon light irradiation. Our results clearly indicate that the two selected compounds are efficiently intercalated within HTlc layers. Moreover, in vitro preliminary studies on a panel of cancer cells lines account for a greater cytotoxicity of the two drugs once loaded on HTlc either when administrated singularly or in combination. In addition, the analysis of the synergistic effect of the two formulations was evaluated by determining their combination index, which showed a greater cytotoxicity when using as a 1:2 ratio of AlPcS4@HTlc and NCTD@HTlc, respectively.

Key Lecture: Scientific culture is seen by youth with less and less interest, probably due to the way science is taught in schools, to difficulties in the understanding of real impact on the everyday life and finally, to the shortage of attractive career perspectives. ....

Raw Matters Ambassadors at schools 3.0 (RM@Schools) is an innovative program to make science education and careers in raw materials (RM) attractive for youngsters, involving RM experts and teachers (RM Ambassadors). ...

Doxorubicin is one of the most effective chemotherapeutic agents for the treatment of several neoplastic conditions, such as leukemia, neuroblastoma, soft tissue and bone sarcomas, breast cancer, ovarian cancer and others. However, its clinical application is limited by cardiotoxicity, such as cardiomyopathy, that once developed carries a poor prognosis and is frequently fatal. The controlled release of doxorubicin by means of a smart carrier is a strategy to overcome the aforementioned drawback. Herein, doxorubicin/keratin nanoparticles were prepared by loading the drug through ionic gelation and aggregation methods, without using cross linkers, organic solvents neither surfactants. Both methodologies afford nanoparticles with yields up to 100 wt%, depending on the loading amount of doxorubicin. Although aggregation yield smaller nanoparticles (≈100 nm), ionic gelation allows a higher drug loading (up to 30 wt%,). More importantly, nanoparticles obtained through this procedure display a pH-responsive release of the drug: indeed Peppas-Salhin model suggests that, the doxorubicin release mechanism is predominantly controlled by diffusion at pH 7.4 and by protein swelling at pH 5. Moreover, nanoparticles prepared by ionic gelation resulted in more efficient cell killing of MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 breast cancer cells than those prepared by aggregation. Based on the herein presented preliminary results, ionic gelation emerges as a promising approach for the preparation of keratin-based doxorubicin nanocarriers for cancer therapy, that is worth to further investigate.

"Il linguaggio della Ricerca (LdR)", progetto di divulgazione scientifica promosso dal Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR) e dall'Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF).

Organizzazione del XV Convegno de "Il linguaggio della Ricerca (LdR)", progetto di divulgazione scientifica promosso dal Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR) e dall'Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF).

We describe the use of different life stages of the Mediterranean sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus for the assessment of the possible risk posed by nanoparticles (NPs) in the coastal water. A first screening for the presence of NPs in sea water may be obtained by checking their presence inside tissues of organisms taken from the wild. The ability of NPs to pass from gut to the coelomic fluid is demon- strated by accumulation in sea urchin coelomocytes; the toxicity on sperms can be measured by embryo- toxicity markers after sperm exposure, whereas the transfer through the food chain can be observed by developmental anomalies in larvae fed with microalgae exposed to NPs. The most used spermiotoxicity and embryotoxicity tests are described, as well as the biochemical and histochemical analyses of cholin- esterase (ChE) activities, which are used to verify toxicity parameters such as inflammation, neurotoxicity, and interference in cell-to-cell communication. Morphological markers of toxicity, in particular skeletal anomalies, are described and classified. In addition, NPs may impair viability of the immune cells of adult specimens. Molecular similarity between echinoderm and human immune cells is shown and discussed.

Keratins extracted from Merino wool (KM) and Brown Alpaca fibres (KA) by sulphitolysis and commercial hydrolyzed keratins (KH) were used as fillers in poly(l-lactic) acid based biocomposites processed by solvent casting in chloroform. Different contents (1 wt.% and 5 wt.%) of keratins were considered and the morphological, thermal, mechanical, chemical and biological behaviours of the developed PLLA biocomposites were investigated. The results confirmed that surface morphologies of biocomposites revealed specific round-like surface topography function of different microsized keratin particles in different weight contents, such as the analysis of bulk morphologies which confirmed a phase adhesion strictly dependent by the keratin source. Transparency and thermal responses were deeply affected by the presence of the different keratins and their interaction with the PLLA matrix. Tensile test results underlined the possibility to modulate the mechanical behaviour of PLLA selecting the keratin type and content in order to influence positively the elastic and/or plastic response. It was demonstrated that surface characteristics of PLLA/KA systems also influenced the bovine serum albumin adsorption, moreover PLLA and PLLA biocomposites based on different kinds of keratins supported the culture of human bone-marrow mesenchymal stem cells, indicating that these biocomposites could be useful materials for medical applications.

Photoactivatable keratin sponges were prepared from protein aqueous solutions by the freeze-drying method, followed by photofunctionalization with two different photo sensitizers (PS): Azure A (AzA) and 5,10,15,20-tetrakis [4-(2-N,N,N-trimethylethylthio)-2,3,5,6-tetrafluorophenyl]porphyrin tetraiodide salt (TTFAP). The prepared sponges have a porosity between 49% and 80% and a mean pore size in the 37-80 mu m range. As compared to AzA, TTFAP interacts more strongly with the sponges as demonstrated by a lower PS Keratin Sponges release (6% vs 20%), a decreased swelling ratio (1.6 vs 7.4), and a slower biodegradation rate. Nevertheless, AzA-loaded sponges showed the highest photoactivity, as also demonstrated by their higher antibactericidal activity toward both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. The obtained results suggest that the antimicrobial photodynamic effect can be finely triggered through a proper selection of the amount and type of photosensitizer, as well as through the irradiation time. Finally, all the prepared sponges support human fibroblast cells growth, while no significant cell viability impairment is observed upon light irradiation.

Background: The immunoregulatory enzyme indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase, which catalyzes the conversion of tryptophan into kynurenine, is expressed in a significant subset of patients with acute myeloid leukemia, resulting in the inhibition of T-cell proliferation and the induction of regulatory T cells. Acute myeloid leukemia cells can be differentiated into dendritic cells, which have increased immunogenicity and have been proposed as vaccines against leukemia.\ud Design and Methods: Leukemic dendritic cells were generated from acute myeloid leukemia cells and used as stimulators in functional assays, including the induction of regulatory T cells. Indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase expression in leukemic dendritic cells was evaluated at molecular, protein and enzymatic levels.\ud Results: We demonstrate that, after differentiation into dendritic cells, both indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase-negative and indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase-positive acute myeloid leukemia samples show induction and up-regulation of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase gene and protein, respectively. Indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase-positive acute myeloid leukemia dendritic cells catabolize tryptophan into kynurenine metabolite and inhibit T-cell proliferation through an indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase-dependent mechanism. Moreover, indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase-positive leukemic dendritic cells increase the number of allogeneic and autologous CD4+CD25+ Foxp3+ T cells and this effect is completely abrogated by the indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase-inhibitor, 1-methyl tryptophan. Purified CD4+CD25+ T cells obtained from co-culture with indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase-positive leukemic dendritic cells act as regulatory T cells as they inhibit naive T-cell proliferation and impair the complete maturation of normal dendritic cells. Importantly, leukemic dendritic cell-induced regulatory T cells are capable of in vitro suppression of a leukemia-specific T cell-mediated immune response, directed against the leukemia-associated antigen, Wilms’ tumor protein.\ud Conclusions: These data identify indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase-mediated catabolism as a tolerogenic mechanism exerted by leukemic dendritic cells and have clinical implications for the use of these cells for active immunotherapy of leukemia.