Simple approach for the plasma treatment of polymeric membranes and investigation of the aging effect

The modification of the surface characteristics after treatment with plasma in polymeric materials, such as the aging phenomenon, calls the attention of research in the area of nonthermal plasma technology. In this work, a direct treatment with dielectric-barrier discharge plasma was used on the surfaces of ultrafiltration membranes. The measurements of the contact angle with water, attenuated total reflectance accessory, zeta potential, atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy-MEV were performed on the surfaces to verify changes after plasma treatment and to understand the occurrence and timing of the plasma aging effect. In the analysis of the membrane performance, hydraulic permeation and protein retention tests were performed. The results showed an improvement in wettability and hydrophilic properties in the post-treated membranes. The study of reversibility/aging of the post-plasma surface is important for research that deals with the modification of polymeric membranes. Changes in surface morphology, topography and wettability of the membranes were observed up to seven days after treatment, with a tendency to return to the initial characteristics of the membranes.     

Exogenous Integrin αIIbβ3 Inhibitors Revisited: Past,Present and Future Applications

The integrin αIIbβ3 is the most abundant integrin on platelets. Upon platelet activation, the integrin changes its conformation (inside-out signalling) and outside-in signalling takes place leading to platelet spreading, platelet aggregation and thrombus formation. Bloodsucking parasites such as mosquitoes, leeches and ticks express anticoagulant and antiplatelet proteins, which represent major sources of lead compounds for the development of useful therapeutic agents for the treatment of haemostatic disorders or cardiovascular diseases. In addition to hematophagous parasites, snakes also possess anticoagulant and antiplatelet proteins in their salivary glands. Two snake venom proteins have been developed into two antiplatelet drugs that are currently used in the clinic. The group of proteins discussed in this review are disintegrins, low molecular weight integrin-binding cysteine-rich proteins, found in snakes, ticks, leeches, worms and horseflies. Finally, we highlight various oral antagonists, which have been tested in clinical trials but were discontinued due to an increase in mortality. No new αIIbβ3 inhibitors are developed since the approval of current platelet antagonists, and structure-function analysis of exogenous disintegrins could help find platelet antagonists with fewer adverse side effects.     

SUL-151 Decreases Airway Neutrophilia as a Prophylactic and Therapeutic Treatment in Mice after Cigarette Smoke Exposure

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) caused by cigarette smoke (CS) is featured by oxidative stress and chronic inflammation. Due to the poor efficacy of standard glucocorticoid therapy, new treatments are required. Here, we investigated whether the novel compound SUL-151 with mitoprotective properties can be used as a prophylactic and therapeutic treatment in a murine CS-induced inflammation model. SUL-151 (4 mg/kg), budesonide (500 μg/kg), or vehicle were administered via oropharyngeal instillation in this prophylactic and therapeutic treatment setting. The number of immune cells was determined in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF). Oxidative stress response, mitochondrial adenosine triphosphate (ATP) production, and mitophagy-related proteins were measured in lung homogenates. SUL-151 significantly decreased more than 70% and 50% of CS-induced neutrophils in BALF after prophylactic and therapeutic administration, while budesonide showed no significant reduction in neutrophils. Moreover, SUL-151 prevented the CS-induced decrease in ATP and mitochondrial mtDNA and an increase in putative protein kinase 1 expression in the lung homogenates. The concentration of SUL-151 was significantly correlated with malondialdehyde level and radical scavenging activity in the lungs. SUL-151 inhibited the increased pulmonary inflammation and mitochondrial dysfunction in this CS-induced inflammation model, which implied that SUL-151 might be a promising candidate for COPD treatment.     

Electrospun fibers based on porcine plasma: a rheological and morphological study

Iranian Polymer Journal - The present work focuses on the assessment of the ability of porcine plasma protein (PPP) to be electrospun satisfactorily to form fibre mats, and their rheological and...     

Apportionment of primary and secondary organic aerosols in southern California during the 2005 study of organic aerosols in riverside (SOAR-1)

Ambient sampling was conducted in Riverside, California during the 2005 Study of Organic Aerosols in Riverside to characterize the composition and sources of organic aerosol using a variety of state-of-the-art instrumentation and source apportionmenttechniques. The secondary organic aerosol (SOA) mass is estimated by elemental carbon and carbon monoxide tracer methods, water soluble organic carbon content, chemical mass balance of organic molecular markers, and positive matrix factorization of high-resolution aerosol mass spectrometer data. Estimates obtained from each ofthese methods indicate that the organic fraction in ambient aerosol is overwhelmingly secondary in nature during a period of several weeks with moderate ozone concentrations and that SOA is the single largest component of PM1 aerosol in Riverside. Average SOA/OA contributions of 70-90% were observed during midday periods, whereas minimum SOA contributions of approximately 45% were observed during peak morning traffic periods. These results are contraryto previous estimates of SOAthroughout the Los Angeles Basin which reported that, other than during severe photochemical smog episodes, SOA was lower than primary OA. Possible reasons for these differences are discussed.     

Synthesis of cobalt–silicon oxide thin films

Silicon–cobalt oxide thin films were prepared by the dipping sol–gel process. Samples with different number of dipping–annealing cycles were prepared. Some data regarding the precursor sol are given from small angle X-ray scattering characterization. Composition, structure, surface morphology and optical properties are obtained from X-ray diffraction, reflectance, transmittance, FTIR, scanning electron microscopy and EDX spectroscopy measurements. The silicon–cobalt oxide thin films prepared in this work are mostly amorphous. They have a high absorption coefficient in the visible and infrared regions. A refractive index from 2.15 to 1.79 (at 1200 nm wavelength), and a band gap between 3.73 and 3.68 eV with increasing film thickness were measured in the films. Sol–gel prepared Si–Co oxide thin films could be well suited for use in photothermal solar collectors.     

Numerical modeling of a human stented trachea under different stent designs

Endotracheal stenting is a common treatment for tracheal disorders as stenosis, cronic cough or dispnoea episodes. However, medical treatment and surgery are still challenging due to the difficulties in overcoming potential prosthesis complications. In this work we analyze the response of the tracheal wall during breathing and coughing conditions under different stent implantations. A finite element model of a human trachea was developed and used to analyze tracheal deformability after prosthesis implantation under normal breathing and coughing using a fluid-structure interaction approach (FSI). The geometry of the trachea is obtained from computed tomography (CT) images of a healthy patient. A structured hexahedral-based grid for the tracheal wall and an unstructured tetrahedral-based mesh with coincident nodes for the fluid were used to perform the simulations with a finite element-based commercial software code. Tracheal wall is modeled as a fiber reinforced hyperelastic solid material in which the anisotropy due to the orientation of the fibers is taken into account. Deformations of the tracheal cartilage rings and of the muscle membrane, as well as the maximum principal stresses in the wall, are analyzed and compared with those of the healthy trachea in absence of prosthesis. The results showed that, the presence of the stent prevents tracheal muscle deflections especially during coughing. In addition, we proposed a methodology to evaluate, through numerical simulations, the predisposition of the stent to migrate.     

A method for the identification and quantitative investigation of denatured proteins in mixtures based on computer comparison of amino-acid patterns

Summary A procedure is described in which stepwise regression is adapted to permit comparison of the amino-acid pattern from a composite sample with those of simple substances arranged in an easily accessible data bank. The computer program automatically selects from the bank those proteins whose amino-acid patterns best correspond to that of the sample, and calculates the proportion of the proteins contained in the mixture.The procedure is applicable to food analytical problems that involve the identification and determination of proteins in mixtures, and also to situations in which the properties of the proteins have been altered by denaturation or enzymatic degradation. The determination is limited to 3–4 proteins in the mixture.

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Identifizierung und quantitative Bestimmung einzelner Proteine in Mischungen von denaturierten Proteinen mit Hilfe ihrer Aminosäauremuster

Zusammenfassung Mit Hilfe einer stufenweisen Regressionsberechnung konnen Aminosäu-renmuster eines zusammengesetzten Proteins mit einfachen Proteinen verglichen werden. Mit dieser Berechnung werden aus einer Sammlung von Vergleichsproteinen automatisch solche Proteine ausgewählt, deren Aminosäurenmuster am besten zu der der Probe paßt. Gleichzeitig können dadurch die Verhältnisse der verschiedenen Proteine in der Mischung berechnet werden. Durch these Arbeitsweise konnen weiterhin bei nahrungsanalytischen Problemen Proteine in Mischungen identifiziert and quantitativ erfaßt werden, selbst worn die Proteine denaturiert oder enzymatisch abgebaut sind, jedoch ist das Verfahren auf 3–4 Proteine in der Mischung begrenzt.

     

UV-C-inactivation of microorganisms in naturally cloudy apple juice using novel inactivation equipment based on Dean vortex technology

A novel UV-C irradiation device in laboratory scale was tested for its potential to inactivate bacteria in naturally cloudy apple juice. In this device, liquid flows through a helically wound tubing wrapped around a quartz glass tube containing a 9 W UV lamp with an irradiation intensity of 60 W/m² at 254 nm. The equipment was capable of reducing numbers of inoculated Escherichia coli and Lactobacillus brevis from an initial concentration of approximately 10⁶ CFU/ml or 10⁴ CFU/ml to below detectable limits in commercial naturally cloudy apple juice at a flow rate of 2 l/h, and to well below 1 × 10² also at higher flow rates of 4 and 8 l/h. Numbers of Saccharomyces cerevisiae could be reduced from an initial level of ca. 1 × 10⁴–1 × 10² CFU/ml or less at flow rates of 2 and 4 l/h. Although E. coli could be effectively inactivated also in self-extracted, as well as industrially processed apple juice, contaminating yeast and lactic acid bacteria were not completely eliminated.     

Study on the applicability of high-pressure homogenization for the production of banana juices

The aim of this preliminary study was to evaluate the potential applicability of high-pressure homogenization (HPH) for the production of banana juices. To this purpose, a prototype equipment working up to 400 MPa and a lab-scale homogenizer working up to 150 MPa were used. Temperature, microbial load, pectate lyase activity, colour and viscosity of the samples homogenized at increasing pressure were evaluated. Pressures higher than 200 MPa were needed to obtain 4 log unit reduction of total mesophilic bacteria and pectate lyase inactivation. Following HPH, banana juice resulted brighter and less viscous than the untreated one. Data suggest that HPH treatments could be a reliable technological alternative to conventional heat treatments for the production of added-value fruit juices. However, the homogenization design could play a critical role in affecting the product quality attributes. In fact, homogenization performed at the same operative pressure by using different equipment leads to different effects on product quality.