Analysis of Biomechanical Parameters of Muscle Soleus Contraction and Blood Biochemical Parameters in Rat with Chronic Glyphosate Intoxication and Therapeutic Use of C60 Fullerene

The widespread use of glyphosate as a herbicide in agriculture can lead to the presence of its residues and metabolites in food for human consumption and thus pose a threat to human health. It has been found that glyphosate reduces energy metabolism in the brain, its amount increases in white muscle fibers. At the same time, the effect of chronic use of glyphosate on the dynamic properties of skeletal muscles remains practically unexplored. The selected biomechanical parameters (the integrated power of muscle contraction, the time of reaching the muscle contraction force its maximum value and the reduction of the force response by 50% and 25% of the initial values during stimulation) of muscle soleus contraction in rats, as well as blood biochemical parameters (the levels of creatinine, creatine phosphokinase, lactate, lactate dehydrogenase, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, hydrogen peroxide, reduced glutathione and catalase) were analyzed after chronic glyphosate intoxication (oral administration at a dose of 10 μg/kg of animal weight) for 30 days. Water-soluble C₆₀ fullerene, as a poweful antioxidant, was used as a therapeutic nanoagent throughout the entire period of intoxication with the above herbicide (oral administration at doses of 0.5 or 1 mg/kg). The data obtained show that the introduction of C₆₀ fullerene at a dose of 0.5 mg/kg reduces the degree of pathological changes by 40–45%. Increasing the dose of C₆₀ fullerene to 1 mg/kg increases the therapeutic effect by 55–65%, normalizing the studied biomechanical and biochemical parameters. Thus, C₆₀ fullerenes can be effective nanotherapeutics in the treatment of glyphosate-based herbicide poisoning.     

Targeting the Surface of the Protein 14-3-3 by Ultrasmall (1.5 nm) Gold Nanoparticles Carrying the Specific Peptide CRaf

The surface of ultrasmall gold nanoparticles with an average diameter of 1.55 nm was conjugated with a 14-3-3 protein-binding peptide derived from CRaf. Each particle carries 18 CRaf peptides, leading to an overall stoichiometry of Au(115)Craf(18). The binding to the protein 14-3-3 was probed by isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) and fluorescence polarization spectroscopy (FP). The dissociation constant (K_D) was measured as 5.0 μM by ITC and 0.9 μM by FP, which was close to the affinity of dissolved CRaf to 14-3-3σ. In contrast to dissolved CRaf, which alone did not enter HeLa cells, CRAF-conjugated gold nanoparticles were well taken up by HeLa cells, opening the opportunity to target the protein inside a cell.     

Printing Inks＇ Characteristics

Hybrid inks are often used for the advertising products because a variety of effects can serve as an added value. Much attention is paid to the inks application settings, using the hybrid inks at the hi-tech offset equipment and color features of images. The thorough research of the different printing settings with the use of modern inks and efficient equipment, is an urgent problem. Work reveals some new facts about characteristics for printability such as emulsification and influences of ink＇s additives on color characteristics of imprints. The experimental inks were developed to define the technological settings of offset printing. The result of research showed that conventional inks have the considerably high degree of emulsification comparing to experimental hybrid inks. Also it was discovered that the UV components influence the emulsification. An optimal water-ink balance and stable printing process can be achieved with adding of 2%-10% of the UV-component to the hybrid inks. Inks application and drying settings as well as color features of the imprints are analyzed in the context of offset printing.     

Fabrication of new antifungal polyamide‐12 material

Water‐resistant polymeric biocide poly(hexamethylene guanidine) dodecylbenzenesulfonate (PHMG‐DBS) was synthesized by anion metathesis between poly(hexamethylene guanidine) hydrochloride and sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate and subsequently characterized using elemental analysis, Raman spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis. It is found that PHMG‐DBS is thermally stable to at least 350 °C, which makes it suitable for melt blending with polyamide (PA) resins. An antifungal PA‐12 composition was prepared by compression moulding of PA‐12 and PHMG‐DBS powder mixture at 240 °C. The characteristics of the prepared films were investigated: surface roughness and hydrophobicity using atomic force microscopy and contact angle measurements, respectively. No significant change in the material characteristics is observed compared to pure PA‐12 films. PA‐12 films containing 2 wt% of the PHMG‐DBS biocide are found to be highly resistant against Trychophyton mentagrophytes fungus. Copyright © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry