Morphological analysis of poly(butylene terephthalate) spherulites during fusion

Summary A detailed morphological analysis of the melting process of poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT) is presented. Investigations were conducted by polarizing optical microscopy, coupling the measurement of depolarized light intensity with examination of morphology of PBT spherulites during their fusion. These analyses allowed to prove that the spherulitic superstructure of PBT developed upon isothermal crystallization from the melt does not vary with temperature until complete melting takes place, despite the large reorganization involved in the fusion process. It is thus shown that the double melting behavior commonly observed in PBT does not arise from the presence of various spherulitic morphologies with different thermal stabilities, and the structural changes caused by the reorganization processes do not involve variations in the spherulitic morphology. The recrystallization of PBT above the apparent melting point was also analyzed, and the role of memory effects of crystalline precursors remaining in the melt was discussed.     

The approach of conformational chimeras to model the role of proline-containing helices on GPCR mobility: the fertile case of Cys-LTR1

The homology modeling of GPCRs has benefitted vastly from the availability of some resolved structures, which allow the generation of many reliable GPCR models. However, the dynamic behavior of such receptors has been only minimally examined in silico, although several pieces of evidence have highlighted some conformational switches that can orchestrate the activation mechanism. Among such switches, Pro-containing helices play a key role in determining bending in TM helices and thereby the width of the TM bundle. The approach proposed herein involves the generation of a set of possible models (conformational chimeras) by exhaustively combining the two main conformations (straight and bent) that a Pro-containing helix can assume. This approach was validated by generating conformational chimeras for the Cys-LTR1 receptor, which is involved in contractile and inflammatory processes. The generated chimeras were then used for docking a small set of representative ligands. The results revealed the flexibility mechanisms of Cys-LTR1, showing how the docked agonists vary their stabilizing interactions, shifting from the open to closed state, and how the examined antagonists are able to block the receptor in an open and inactive conformation, thus behaving as inverse agonists. This study emphasizes the promising potential of chimera modeling, confirms the key role of proline residues in receptor activation, and suggests that docking results can be improved by considering the often-overlooked flexibility of receptors.     

Multiwalled carbon nanotubes functionalized with maleated poly(propylene) by a dry mechano-chemical process

Ball milling was used to graft maleated polypropylene (MAPP) on the surface of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), with a view to preparing MWCNT/polypropylene composites with improved matrix/nanotube compatibility. The occurrence of the grafting reaction was evaluated by FTIR spectroscopy and the yield was quantified by thermogravimetric analysis, as a function of the milling time. Dispersion experiments confirmed the nanotube surface modification of the nanotubes since functionalized MWCNTs remained stably dispersed in an ethanol/xylene solution for more than 48 h after sonication. No evidences of significant structural damage after the mechano-chemical treatment were shown by Raman spectroscopy. Moreover, a layer attributable to the presence of grafted MAPP chains on MWCNT walls was clearly detected by transmission electron microscopy. The average thickness of this amorphous layer was evaluated and compared with quantitative TGA data.     

Exploiting anionic and cationic interactions with a new emissive imine-based β-naphthol molecular probe

A new emissive molecular probe derived from 1,7-bis(2′-formylphenyl)-1,4,7-trioxaheptane and 2-hydroxy-1-naphthaldehyde has been synthesized by a Schiff-base condensation method. Its sensor capability towards cations such as Cu²⁺, Zn²⁺, Cd²⁺ and Hg²⁺, and anions such as halides (F⁻, Cl⁻, Br⁻ and I⁻) and CN⁻ was explored in DMSO solution. The geometry was optimized using density functional theory (DFT). The probe showed remarkable selectivity for Cu²⁺ and interaction with the more basic anions CN⁻ and F⁻.     

Comparison of molecular and metabolomic methods as characterization tools of Debaryomyces hansenii cheese isolates

Debaryomyces hansenii is one of the yeast species most frequently isolated from cheese and salty foods, however little is known about the phenotypic and molecular variability of its strains. In order to explore the possibilities of a large study on its biodiversity, some D. hansenii strains were selectively isolated from pecorino cheese sampled in ten different Italian regions. All isolates were identified as D. hansenii on the basis of conventional and molecular taxonomic analysis. The D1/D2 domain sequences of the 26S-rDNA did not show any variation, confirming the extreme homogeneity of this species. PCR-duplex-RAPD banding patterns analyzed with PCoA showed interesting clustering related to the geographic areas of isolation, although some overlapping between strains derived from different districts could be observed. A FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy) metabolomic fingerprint produced groupings weakly related to those observed with RAPD and less associated with the isolation locales. The discriminatory power of metabolomic fingerprint was able to discriminate strains otherwise considered identical. This preliminary study showed that, in spite of the homogeneity at the 26S-rDNA level, the D. hansenii strains exhibit high molecular and metabolomic variability somehow linked to the places of isolation. Further studies will be necessary to better investigate on the link between terroir and strain variability, as well as on the relation between genotypic and metabolomic fingerprints.     

Effects of heat treatment on microbial communities of granular sludge for biological hydrogen production

Dark fermentation shares many features with anaerobic digestion with the exception that to maximize hydrogen production, methanogens and hydrogen-consuming bacteria should be inhibited. Heat treatment is widely applied as an inoculum pre-treatment due to its effectiveness in inhibiting methanogenic microflora but it may not exclusively select for hydrogen-producing bacteria. This work evaluated the effects of heat treatment on microbial viability and structure of anaerobic granular sludge. Heat treatment was carried out on granular sludge at 100 °C with four residence times (0.5, 1, 2 and 4 h). Hydrogen production of treated sludges was studied from glucose by means of batch test at different pH values. Results indicated that each heat treatment strongly influenced the granular sludge resulting in microbial communities having different hydrogen productions. The highest hydrogen yields (2.14 moles of hydrogen per mole of glucose) were obtained at pH 5.5 using the sludge treated for 4 h characterized by the lowest CFU concentration (2.3 × 10(3)CFU/g sludge). This study demonstrated that heat treatment should be carefully defined according to the structure of the sludge microbial community, allowing the selection of highly efficient hydrogen-producing microbes.     

State of the Art in the Current Management and Future Directions of Targeted Therapy for Differentiated Thyroid Cancer

Two-thirds of differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) patients with distant metastases would be classified as radioactive iodine-refractory (RAIR-DTC), evolving into a poor outcome. Recent advances underlying DTC molecular mechanisms have shifted the therapy focus from the standard approach to targeting specific genetic dysregulations. Lenvatinib and sorafenib are first-line, multitargeted tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) approved to treat advanced, progressive RAIR-DTC. However, other anti-angiogenic drugs, including single targeted TKIs, are currently being evaluated as alternative or salvage therapy after the failure of first-line TKIs. Combinatorial therapy of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) signalling cascade inhibitors has become a highly advocated strategy to improve the low efficiency of the single agent treatment. Recent studies pointed out targetable alternative pathways to overcome the resistance to MAPK and PI3K pathways’ inhibitors. Because radioiodine resistance originates in DTC loss of differentiation, redifferentiation therapies are currently being explored for efficacy. The present review will summarize the conventional management of DTC, the first-line and alternative TKIs in RAIR-DTC, and the approaches that seek to overcome the resistance to MAPK and PI3K pathways’ inhibitors. We also aim to emphasize the latest achievements in the research of redifferentiation therapy, immunotherapy, and agents targeting gene rearrangements in advanced DTC.     

Comparative Proteomic Profiling of Secreted Extracellular Vesicles from Breast Fibroadenoma and Malignant Lesions: A Pilot Study

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) shuttle proteins, RNA, DNA, and lipids crucial for cell-to-cell communication. Recent findings have highlighted that EVs, by virtue of their cargo, may also contribute to breast cancer (BC) growth and metastatic dissemination. Indeed, EVs are gaining great interest as non-invasive cancer biomarkers. However, little is known about the biological and physical properties of EVs from malignant BC lesions, and even less is understood about EVs from non-malignant lesions, such as breast fibroadenoma (FAD), which are clinically managed using conservative approaches. Thus, for this pilot study, we attempted to purify and explore the proteomic profiles of EVs from benign breast lesions, HER2+ BCs, triple–negative BCs (TNBCs), and continuous BC cell lines (i.e., BT-549, MCF–10A, and MDA-MB-231), combining experimental and semi-quantitative approaches. Of note, proteome-wide analyses showed 49 common proteins across EVs harvested from FAD, HER2+ BCs, TNBCs, and model BC lines. This is the first feasibility study evaluating the physicochemical composition and proteome of EVs from benign breast cells and primary and immortalized BC cells. Our preliminary results hold promise for possible implications in precision medicine for BC.     

Treatment of Fenton‐refractory olive oil mill wastes by electrochemical oxidation with boron‐doped diamond anodes

In this work, the electrochemical oxidation of an actual industrial waste with conductive diamond anodes has been studied. The wastewater is the effluent of a wastewater treatment plant consisting of a Fenton reactor followed by a settler and a sand filter, in which the wastes generated in an olive oil mill are treated. These wastes contain a residual chemical oxygen demand of nearly 700 mg dm^?3 which cannot be further oxidized with the Fenton process. The electrolyses were carried out under galvanostatic conditions, using a bench‐scale plant equipped with a single‐compartment electrochemical flow cell. Boron‐doped diamond (BDD) and stainless steel (AISI 304) were use as anode and cathode of the cell, respectively. The complete mineralization of the waste was obtained with high current efficiencies limited only by mass transport processes. This confirms that besides the hydroxyl radical‐mediated oxidation that occurs in the Fenton process, the electrochemical oxidation with conductive diamond electrodes combines other important oxidation processes such as direct electro‐oxidation on the BDD surface and oxidation mediated by other electrochemically formed compounds generated in this electrode. Copyright © 2006 Society of Chemical Industry