Current Status of Angiogenic Cell Therapy and Related Strategies Applied in Critical Limb Ischemia

Critical limb ischemia (CLI) constitutes the most severe form of peripheral arterial disease (PAD), it is characterized by progressive blockade of arterial vessels, commonly correlated to atherosclerosis. Currently, revascularization strategies (bypass grafting, angioplasty) remain the first option for CLI patients, although less than 45% of them are eligible for surgical intervention mainly due to associated comorbidities. Moreover, patients usually require amputation in the short-term. Angiogenic cell therapy has arisen as a promising alternative for these “no-option” patients, with many studies demonstrating the potential of stem cells to enhance revascularization by promoting vessel formation and blood flow recovery in ischemic tissues. Herein, we provide an overview of studies focused on the use of angiogenic cell therapies in CLI in the last years, from approaches testing different cell types in animal/pre-clinical models of CLI, to the clinical trials currently under evaluation. Furthermore, recent alternatives related to stem cell therapies such as the use of secretomes, exosomes, or even microRNA, will be also described.     

Coenzyme Q10: Novel Formulations and Medical Trends

The aim of this review is to shed light over the most recent advances in Coenzyme Q₁₀ (CoQ₁₀) applications as well as to provide detailed information about the functions of this versatile molecule, which have proven to be of great interest in the medical field. Traditionally, CoQ₁₀ clinical use was based on its antioxidant properties; however, a wide range of highly interesting alternative functions have recently been discovered. In this line, CoQ₁₀ has shown pain-alleviating properties in fibromyalgia patients, a membrane-stabilizing function, immune system enhancing ability, or a fundamental role for insulin sensitivity, apart from potentially beneficial properties for familial hypercholesterolemia patients. In brief, it shows a remarkable amount of functions in addition to those yet to be discovered. Despite its multiple therapeutic applications, CoQ₁₀ is not commonly prescribed as a drug because of its low oral bioavailability, which compromises its efficacy. Hence, several formulations have been developed to face such inconvenience. These were initially designed as lipid nanoparticles for CoQ₁₀ encapsulation and distribution through biological membranes and eventually evolved towards chemical modifications of the molecule to decrease its hydrophobicity. Some of the most promising formulations will also be discussed in this review.     

Indoor heterogeneous photochemistry of furfural drives emissions of nitrous acid

People spend approximately 80% of their time indoor, making the understanding of the indoor chemistry an important task for safety. The high surface-area-to-volume ratio characteristic of indoor environments leads the semi-volatile organic compounds (sVOCs) to deposit on the surfaces. Using a long path absorption photometer (LOPAP), this work investigates the formation of nitrous acid (HONO) through the photochemistry of adsorbed nitrate anions and its enhancement by the presence of furfural. Using a high-resolution proton-transfer-reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometer (PTR-TOF-MS), this work also investigates the surface emissions of VOCs from irradiated films of furfural and a mix of furfural and nitrate anions. Among the emitted VOCs, 2(5H)-furanone/2-Butenedial was observed at high concentrations, leading to maleic anhydride formation after UV irradiation. Moreover, the addition of potassium nitrate to the film formed NO_x and HONO concentrations up to 10 ppb, which scales to ca. 4 ppb for realistic indoor conditions. This work helps to understand the high levels of HONO and NO_x measured indoors.     

Synergistic antimicrobial effect of lactocin AL705 and nisin combined with organic acid salts against Listeria innocua 7 in broth and a hard cheese

The effectiveness of antimicrobial mixtures against Listeria innocua 7, used as a L. monocytogenes surrogate, was investigated in broth and a food system. Synergistic effects were found for nisin (Nis), potassium sorbate (PS), calcium propionate (CP) and sodium lactate (SL), Nis + PS being the most effective binary mixture that exhibited listericidal activity in broth. To assess the effect of adding lactocin AL705 (AL705) to Nis + organic acid salt combinations, tridimensional isobolograms were generated. Sub-MIC combinations of the antimicrobials exerted bactericidal activity against L. innocua 7 after AL705 addition to the binary mixtures. However, when applied on Sardo cheese contaminated with L. innocua 7 (initial inoculum 4.45 ± 0.06 CFU g⁻¹), only Nis + PS + AL705 produced count reductions respect to the control, reaching 3.04 ± 0.35 CFU g⁻¹ counts after 15 days at 15 °C. Ternary combinations containing AL705 showed potential to reduce antimicrobial usages for L. innocua 7 inhibition.     

Accurate estimation of capacities and cross-traffic of all links in a path using ICMP timestamps

The estimation of the link capacity and its available bandwidth in an end-to-end path is crucial for network management, admission control and flow control for adaptive applications. This paper introduces an estimation mechanism able to accurately estimate the available bandwidth of all links in an end-to-end path, through its capacity and cross-traffic estimation. The estimation procedures resort to the dispersions of packet pairs and trains using the concepts of ICMP Timestamp and Traceroute that, efficiently used together, enable the measurement of the dispersions in all links in the path. These mechanisms were evaluated through simulation experiments, where we analyzed the influence of the several network parameters on each estimation mechanism. The results show that these estimation methods are able to accurately estimate both the capacity and the cross-traffic of all links in a path with moderate length and with low overhead.     

Atmospheric corrosion of reference metals in Antarctic sites

This paper presents the results obtained at three Antarctic test sites participating in the “Ibero-American Map of Atmospheric Corrosiveness” (MICAT), a project on atmospheric corrosion carried out during the period 1988–1994 at some 70 sites distributed across 12 countries of the Latin-American region, Spain and Portugal. The three Antarctic sites are located near the coastline.The singular climatic characteristics of Antarctic regions are related with the purity of the air, the absence of rainfall and the formation of ice on the metallic surface during an important part of the exposure time. However, electrochemical activity is possible below ice layers. This situation affects the structure and morphology of corrosion product films and the resulting corrosion rates of metallic surfaces.     

Mechanical improvement of concrete by irradiated polypropylene fibers

Fiber reinforced concrete (FRC) contains fibers physically mixed with gravel, sand, cement, and water. So far, adequate mechanical performance of FRC has been obtained at high cost and using complex technologies; important here is the geometry and surface characteristics of the polymers. We have modified polymeric‐fiber surfaces by using gamma radiation. Irradiated polypropylene (PP) fibers were submitted to 0, 5, 10, 50, and 100 kGy of gamma irradiation dosages. First, tensile strength of PP fibers was evaluated, and then fibers blended at 0, 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0% in volume with Portland cement, gravel, sand, and water. The highest values of compressive strength were obtained with irradiated‐fibers at 10 kGy and 1.5% in volume of fiber. The result is 101 MPa, as compared to 35 MPa for simple concrete without fibers. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 45:1426–1431, 2005. © 2005 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Assessing continuous bivariate effects among different groups through nonparametric regression models: An application to breast cancer detection

In many applications, the joint effect of two continuous covariates on the target binary response may vary across groups defined by levels of a given factor. A testing procedure that would enable this type of surface-by-factor interactions to be detected has been designed. To accomplish this goal, a logistic generalized additive model (GAM) with bivariate continuous interactions varying across groups defined by levels of a factor is considered. A local scoring algorithm based on local linear kernel smoothers was implemented to estimate the proposed logistic GAM. Bootstrap resampling techniques were used for the purpose of testing for factor-by-surface interactions. Given the high computational cost involved, binning techniques were used to speed up computation in the estimation and testing processes. The adequacy of the bootstrap-based test was assessed by means of a simulation study. If a factor-by-surface interaction is detected in the model, it is then established that the use of the odds-ratio curves is very useful in obtaining a direct interpretation of the fitted model. The benefits of using this methodology when analyzing real data are illustrated by applying the technique to the outputs produced by a computerized system dedicated to the early detection of breast cancer.