Structure-Activity Relationship Explorations and Discovery of a Potent Antagonist for the Free Fatty Acid Receptor 2

Free fatty acid receptor 2 (FFA2) is a sensor for short-chain fatty acids that has been identified as an interesting potential drug target for treatment of metabolic and inflammatory diseases. Although several ligand series are known for the receptor, there is still a need for improved compounds. One of the most potent and frequently used antagonists is the amide-substituted phenylbutanoic acid known as CATPB ( 1 ). We here report the structure-activity relationship exploration of this compound, leading to the identification of homologues with increased potency. The preferred compound 37 (TUG-1958) was found, besides improved potency, to have high solubility and favorable pharmacokinetic properties.     

New water-soluble copolymers of 2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine for surface modification

New copolymers of 2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine with 2-Deoxy-2-methacrylamido-D-glucose, N-vinylpyrrolidone, and N-vinyl-N-methylacetamide were synthesized and characterized; the obtained copolymers contained 10–50 mol% of phosphorylcholine moieties, and their molecular masses ranged from 1.05 × 10⁵ to 4.40 × 10⁵. Reactivity ratios of the monomers were estimated. Conformational states of the copolymers in aqueous solutions were studied. The synthesized copolymer was grafted onto the surface of carbon fiber biosorbent using γ-radiation.     

The use of Nannochloropsis sp. as a source of omega‐3 fatty acids in dry pasta: chemical,technological and sensory evaluation

Nannochloropsis is a microalga characterised by having high amounts of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), a fatty acid known for its health benefits. The aim of this study was to elaborate dry pasta with a significant contribution of EPA using Nannochloropsis sp., without affecting the quality product and with good consumer acceptance. Technological quality was analysed in terms of cooking properties and texture profile. Cooked pasta was characterised through proximal composition, phenolic compound, fatty acid content and sensorial analysis. It was possible to replace up to 30% of wheat flour with microalgae without affecting the technological quality of pasta and with a significant contribution of EPA to the daily diet (0.237 g per 100 g pasta). The incorporation of 10% and 20% Nannochloropsis in pasta formulation allowed to decrease the n6:n3 ratio from 25:1 to 5:1 and 2:1, respectively. Therefore, the microalgae are an interesting ingredient to increase EPA consumption in products like pasta, while the sensory evaluation confirms the possibility towards a commercial approach.     

Graphene oxide conversion into controllably carboxylated graphene layers via photoreduction process in the inert atmosphere

Abstract

The one-step method for graphene oxide (GO) simultaneous reduction and carboxylation via ultraviolet irradiation in the inert atmosphere has been reported. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) data revealed that the proposed approach allows to obtain reduced graphene oxide (rGO) films, containing up to 10 at.% of carboxyl groups. The carboxyl groups concentration can be tuned within the range of 3 to 10 at.% by controlling the oxidation degree of the irradiated GO via the preliminary low-temperature air heating. Furthermore, no carboxylation effect is observed in the case of irradiation of the completely reduced GO films. This coincides with our previous results, validating the proposed model of GO carboxylation based on photoinduced conversion of basal-plane hydroxyl groups and ketones into carboxyl ones. Despite a different degree of carboxylation, all the obtained samples demonstrate almost complete elimination of basal plane groups and restoration of the graphene flakes aromatic structure. This fact is emphasized by the sheet resistance measurements, demonstrating that the obtained C-xy graphene exhibits high electrical conductivity. As a net result, the material obtained by the presented method shows promising applications in the manufacturing of biosensor transducers owing to both its conductive nature and presence of carboxyl groups, playing the role of the anchoring points for biomolecules.     

LEARNING TO FORGET: Architectural Recreation,Spatial Visualization and Imaging the Unseen

Children learn through play, through re-creating situations and events. While playing, children forget themselves, time is suspended, and mind, body and emotions work together simultaneously in the child's re-creations. This is a four-dimensional type of space, similar to the intuitive inner space that opens up during the spatial visualization of architectural recreation. The following discusses an architectural pedagogy that teaches students how to forget: how to leave behind the inherent symbolic and logic structures of the rational mind that would have them name things, so that they may develop the abilities of the metaphoric mind to visualize spatially and image the unseen.     

Traceability as a means to investigate supply chain sustainability: the real case of a leather shoe supply chain

In recent years, the growing attention to environmental challenges has shown that these issues are becoming of more and more interest to both research and industry. Companies are expected to ensure their products are fully traceable and more sustainable, which requires the involvement of all of the actors in the production network. According to this aim, this study proposes a structured approach that uses the traditional traceability concept as a means to identify the main information needed to assess environmental impacts along the whole supply chain (SC). The proposed approach is composed of four main steps: (i) SC modelling to identify all stakeholders and their inter-relations, (ii) data sharing to collect all relevant data, (iii) data elaboration to calculate performance at different levels of detail and (iv) result interpretation to optimise the SC. The distributed implementation of the approach at different SC steps represents a useful means to practically realise a sustainable SC management. A case study involving a leather shoe SC is used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the approach in identifying criticalities, supporting the selection of the most appropriate suppliers and correctly setting a management strategy towards the optimisation of internal and external traceability and environmental sustainability performances.     

Physico-chemical characterization of protein fraction from stabilized wheat germ

Food Science and Biotechnology - Wheat germ shows the highest nutritional value of the kernel. It is highly susceptible to rancidity due to high content of unsaturated fat and presence of oxidative...     

Synthesis and thermal,mechanical and gas permeation properties of aromatic polyimides containing different linkage groups

Two series of aromatic polyimides containing various linkage groups based on 2,7‐bis(4‐aminophenoxy)naphthalene or 3,3′‐dimethyl‐4,4′‐diaminodiphenylmethane and different aromatic dianhydrides, namely 4,4′‐(4,4′‐isopropylidenediphenoxy)bis(phthalic anhydride), 4,4′‐(hexafluoroisopropylidene)bis(phthalic anhydride), 3,3′,4,4′ benzophenonetetracarboxylic dianhydride, 9,9‐bis[4‐(3,4‐dicarboxyphenoxy)phenyl]fluorene dianhydride and 4,4′‐(4,4′‐hexafluoroisopropylidenediphenoxy)bis(phthalic anhydride), were synthesized and compared with regard to their thermal, mechanical and gas permeation properties. All these polymers showed high thermal stability with initial decomposition temperature in the range 475–525 °C and glass transition temperature between 208 and 286 °C. Also, the polymer films presented good mechanical characteristics with tensile strength in the range 60–91 MPa and storage modulus in the range 1700–2375 MPa. The macromolecular chain packing induced by dianhydride and diamine segments was investigated by examining gas permeation through the polymer films. The relationships between chain mobility and interchain distance and the obtained values for gas permeability are discussed. © 2014 Society of Chemical Industry