Pro-Resolving Lipid Mediator Resolvin E1 Mitigates the Progress of Diethylnitrosamine-Induced Liver Fibrosis in Sprague-Dawley Rats by Attenuating Fibrogenesis and Restricting Proliferation

Liver fibrosis is a complex process associated to most types of chronic liver disease, which is characterized by a disturbance of hepatic tissue architecture and the excessive accumulation of extracellular matrix. Resolvin E1 (RvE1) is a representative member of the eicosapentaenoic omega-3 lipid derivatives, and is a drug candidate of the growing family of endogenous resolvins. Considering the aforementioned, the main objective of this study was to analyze the hepatoprotective effect of RvE1 in a rat model of liver fibrosis. Male Sprague-Dawley rats received diethylnitrosamine (DEN, 70 mg/mg body weight intraperitoneally (i.p)) as an inductor of liver fibrosis once weekly and RvE1(100 ng/body weight i.p) twice weekly for four weeks. RvE1 suppressed the alterations induced by DEN, normalizing the levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), albumin, and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and ameliorated DEN injury by decreasing the architecture distortion, inflammatory infiltration, necrotic areas, and microsteatosis. RvE1 also limited DEN-induced proliferation through a decrease in Ki67-positive cells and cyclin D1 protein expression, which is related to an increase of the levels of cleaved caspase-3. Interestingly, we found that RvE1 promotes higher nuclear translocation of nuclear factor κB (NF-κB)p65 than DEN. RvE1 also increased the levels of nuclear the nuclear factor erythroid 2–related factor 2 (Nrf2), but with no antioxidant effect, measured as an increase in glutathione disulfide (GSSG) and a decrease in the ratio of glutathione (GSH)/GSSG. Taken together, these results suggest that RvE1 modulates the fibrogenesis, steatosis, and cell proliferation in a model of DEN induced fibrosis.     

Boron-containing bioactive glasses in bone and soft tissue engineering

Boron is considered to influence the performance of several metabolic enzymes and boron deficiency is associated with impaired growth and abnormal bone development. As such, boron is a beneficial bioactive element for animals and humans. It is also well known that boron stimulates wound healing and improves bone health. The addition of boron in different proportions to bioactive glasses has significant effects on glass structure, glass processing parameters, biodegradability, biocompatibility, bioactivity and cytotoxicity. Different compositions of bioactive glasses (BGs) containing boron, including boron-doped, borosilicate and borate glasses, are being investigated for bone and soft tissue engineering under the premise that these BGs are suitable carriers of boron, indicating controlled release of B species in the biological environment. This paper reviews up to date research and applications of borate, borosilicate, and boron doped silicate and phosphate BGs focussing on their physical, structural, degradation and biological properties for hard and soft tissue regeneration.     

Color evolution during a coating process of pharmaceutical tablet cores by random spraying

Placebo white tablet cores (lactose anhydrous [47.6%], corn starch [23.8%], microcrystalline cellulose [19.1%], polyvinylpyrrolidone [7.9%], magnesium stearate [0.8%], and talcum powder [0.8%]) were coated with a colorant (hydroxypropyl methylcellulose [8% w/v], titanium dioxide [0.2% w/v], FD&C yellow No. 6 with aluminum lacquer [0.8% w/v], polyethylene glycol 4000 [0.4% w/v], and purified water [q.s.p. 100 mL]) using a random spraying method during 130 minutes. During the coating process, batches of 21 samples were extracted every 10 minutes and measured with a DigiEye imaging system. The initial cores showed very similar and uniform colors (Mean Color Difference from the Mean [MCDM] of 0.8 CIELAB units), but partially coated tablets showed lower uniformity (MCDM below 2.0 CIELAB units). There was a high color variability (MCDM about 4.0 CIELAB units) among tablets of the same batch in the period between 10 and 30 minutes, which decreased as the coating process progressed, until achieving a final acceptable value (MCDM below 2.0 CIELAB units). During the coating process, L^* decreased, C^*_ab strongly increased, and h _ab remained nearly constant (disregarding results at 0 and 10 minutes). CIELAB and CIEDE2000 color differences (mainly chroma differences) with respect to the initial color of the tablets were modeled as a function of time by exponential functions with three coefficients. The color change in the interval from 90 to 130 minutes (4.3 CIELAB units, or 2.6 CIEDE2000 units), may be considered negligible bearing in mind the color variability in the batches of 21 samples and typical values of visual color thresholds.     

Influence of oil droplet size on the oxidative stability of the free and encapsulated fractions of freeze-dried microencapsulated sunflower oil

The effect of oil droplet size (ODS) on the oxidative stability (OS) of dried microencapsulated oils has been scarcely studied, and results are contradictory. A few studies have shown increased OS when the ODS was reduced and this was attributed to a decrease in the surface oil content (SOC). Yet, in such studies, only the total oil fraction was evaluated. In the present work, the free (FO) and encapsulated oil (EO) fractions of freeze-dried microencapsulated sunflower oil were analysed to study the effect of changes in the ODS by using different homogenisation pressure (15 or 70 MPa) in the emulsification step. The OS of both the free and encapsulated fractions increased when the ODS was significantly reduced in two samples with different encapsulation matrix, namely caseinate/lactose and maltodextrin/sucrose/gelatine. A reduction in the SOC would explain the increased stability of the FO, but not that of the EO. An additional protective role of the interfacial film could have been involved. In conclusion, if the encapsulation matrix and the interfacial region are effective as oxygen barriers, a reduction in the ODS of the parent emulsion by an increase in the homogenisation pressure will result in capsules more stable against lipid oxidation.     

Leveraging BPMN particularities to improve traceability links recovery among requirements and BPMN models

Requirements Engineering - Traceability links recovery (TLR) has been a topic of interest for many years. However, TLR approaches are based on the latent semantics of the software artifacts, and...     

Addressing Nanomaterial Immunosafety by Evaluating Innate Immunity across Living Species

The interaction of a living organism with external foreign agents is a central issue for its survival and adaptation to the environment. Nanosafety should be considered within this perspective, and it should be examined that how different organisms interact with engineered nanomaterials (NM) by either mounting a defensive response or by physiologically adapting to them. Herein, the interaction of NM with one of the major biological systems deputed to recognition of and response to foreign challenges, i.e., the immune system, is specifically addressed. The main focus is innate immunity, the only type of immunity in plants, invertebrates, and lower vertebrates, and that coexists with adaptive immunity in higher vertebrates. Because of their presence in the majority of eukaryotic living organisms, innate immune responses can be viewed in a comparative context. In the majority of cases, the interaction of NM with living organisms results in innate immune reactions that eliminate the possible danger with mechanisms that do not lead to damage. While in some cases such interaction may lead to pathological consequences, in some other cases beneficial effects can be identified.     

Influence of ionic liquid composition on the stability of polyvinyl chloride‐based ionic liquid inclusion membranes in aqueous solution

Membrane technology has gained significant importance with the incorporation of ionic liquids into their structure. This work shows the influence of ionic liquid composition on the stability of PVC‐based polymer ionic liquid inclusion membranes (PILIMs) in aqueous solution. Among the ILs investigated, those membranes which contain between 20 and 30%_w/w of the least soluble, [OMIM⁺][PF₆^?] and [OMIM⁺][Ntf₂^?], exhibit losses of IL lower than 10%. For both ILs, the amount immobilized was maximum for the membranes with 30%_w/w of IL (0.0838 and 0.0832 g, respectively). On the contrary, the ionic liquid loss increases as its solubility in water increase, reaching 99.52% when PILIMs are prepared with 70%_w/w of [OMIM⁺][BF₄^?]. The results demonstrate that the stability of PILIMs depends on the solubility of the IL in the surrounding phase and the specific interaction between the IL and the polymeric support for PVC‐to‐IL ratios higher than 30%_w/w. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 63: 770–780, 2017     

Concentrations and risks of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in smoke-cured fish products in Nigeria

The concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were determined in nine popular smoked fish species, (Clarias gariepinus, Parachana obscura, Heterotis niloticus, Pseudotolithus senegalensis, Gymnarchus niloticus, Ethmalosa fimbriata, Sardinella aurita, Scromber scrombus and Trachurus trachurus), in the Nigerian market by using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry after extraction by ultrasonication with hexane/dichloromethane. The mean concentrations of ∑16 PAHs in these species ranged from 52.4 μg kg^?1 to 1230 μg kg^?1. The estimated margins of exposure (MOE values) were less than 10,000 for C. gariepinus, G. niloticus and E. fimbriata indicating serious concern for the consumers’ health. The estimated excess cancer risk factors for these fish species investigated indicate that approximately 1 to 65 out of 10⁶ equally exposed adults may suffer from cancer and cancer-related diseases during their lifetime through the ingestion of carcinogenic PAHs from smoked fish in their diet.     

Electronic effects in manganite/insulator interfaces: interfacial enhancement of the insulating tunneling barriers

The transport properties across perovskite oxides heterointerfaces are analyzed. Epitaxial La(2/3)Ca(1/3)MnO3/SrTiO3 (LCMO/STO) heterostructures with different STO insulating-barrier thicknesses are systematically investigated and their behavior compared with LCMO/metal junctions. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) measurements in current-sensing mode show typical features associated with tunneling conduction. Careful analysis of the I-V curves across LCMO/STO heterointerfaces, using the Simmons model in the intermediate voltage range, clearly shows the existence of an interface-induced enhancement of the tunneling barrier of about 1.6 nm on the LCMO side. These results confirm recent theoretical studies predicting electronic phase segregation and the formation of an orbital-ordered insulating phase at the manganite-insulator interface that is a result of the reduction in the number of charge carriers at the interface.