In Silico Study,Physicochemical, and In Vitro Lipase Inhibitory Activity of α,β-Amyrenone Inclusion Complexes with Cyclodextrins

α,β-amyrenone (ABAME) is a triterpene derivative with many biological activities; however, its potential pharmacological use is hindered by its low solubility in water. In this context, the present work aimed to develop inclusion complexes (ICs) of ABAME with γ- and β-cyclodextrins (CD), which were systematically characterized through molecular modeling studies as well as FTIR, XRD, DSC, TGA, and SEM analyses. In vitro analyses of lipase activity were performed to evaluate possible anti-obesity properties. Molecular modeling studies indicated that the CD:ABAME ICs prepared at a 2:1 molar ratio would be more stable to the complexation process than those prepared at a 1:1 molar ratio. The physicochemical characterization showed strong evidence that corroborates with the in silico results, and the formation of ICs with CD was capable of inducing changes in ABAME physicochemical properties. ICs was shown to be a stronger inhibitor of lipase activity than Orlistat and to potentiate the inhibitory effects of ABAME on porcine pancreatic enzymes. In conclusion, a new pharmaceutical preparation with potentially improved physicochemical characteristics and inhibitory activity toward lipases was developed in this study, which could prove to be a promising ingredient for future formulations.     

Mobilisation of bacteria in a fine-grained residual soil by electrophoresis

An investigation of electrokinetic bacterial mobilisation in a residual soil from gneiss is presented here. The experimental program aimed at assessing the efficacy of electrophoresis against the electro-osmotic flow to transport endospores of Bacillus subtilis LBBMA 155 and nitrogen-starved cells of Pseudomonas sp. LBBMA 81. Electrokinesis was performed on a low hydraulic reconstituted clayey soil column submitted to a 5mA electrical current for 24h. Cells were coccoid-shaped and characterised as possessing low surface hydrophobicity and less than 1microm in diameter. Distribution coefficient for B. subtilis in the soil was between 16.8 and 19.9 times higher than that for Pseudomonas sp. Distribution coefficient for B. subtilis between eluate and anionic exchange column was 11.8 times higher than that for Pseudomonas sp. After the electrokinesis, it was shown that cells and endospores were distributed hyperbolically through the soil probe and moved against the electro-osmotic flow; however, endospores were transported throughout all soil core and starved cells only till half of its length. The higher transport efficiency of B. subtilis endospores was attributed to their higher negative charge on cell surface. These results demonstrate that electrokinesis can be used for bacteria transport in soils with low hydraulic conductivity, even against the electro-osmotic flow.     

Maternal Fluoride Exposure Exerts Different Toxicity Patterns in Parotid and Submandibular Glands of Offspring Rats

There is currently a controversial and heated debate about the safety and ethical aspects of fluoride (F) used for human consumption. Thus, this study assessed the effects of prenatal and postnatal F exposure of rats on the salivary glands of their offspring. Pregnant rats were exposed to 0, 10, or 50 mg F/L from the drinking water, from the first day of gestation until offspring weaning (42 days). The offspring rats were euthanized for the collection of the parotid (PA) and submandibular (SM) glands, to assess the oxidative biochemistry and to perform morphometric and immunohistochemical analyses. F exposure was associated with a decrease in the antioxidant competence of PA in the 10 mg F/L group, contrasting with the increase observed in the 50 mg F/L group. On the other hand, the antioxidant competence of the SM glands was decreased at both concentrations. Moreover, both 10 and 50 mg F/L groups showed lower anti-α-smooth muscle actin immunostaining area in SM, while exposure to 50 mg F/L was associated with changes in gland morphometry by increasing the duct area in both glands. These findings demonstrate a greater susceptibility of the SM glands of the offspring to F at high concentration in comparison to PA, reinforcing the need to adhere to the optimum F levels recommended by the regulatory agencies. Such findings must be interpreted with caution, especially considering their translational meaning.     

An approach to accidents modeling based on compounds road environments

The most common approach to study the influence of certain road features on accidents has been the consideration of uniform road segments characterized by a unique feature. However, when an accident is related to the road infrastructure, its cause is usually not a single characteristic but rather a complex combination of several characteristics. The main objective of this paper is to describe a methodology developed in order to consider the road as a complete environment by using compound road environments, overcoming the limitations inherented in considering only uniform road segments. The methodology consists of: dividing a sample of roads into segments; grouping them into quite homogeneous road environments using cluster analysis; and identifying the influence of skid resistance and texture depth on road accidents in each environment by using generalized linear models. The application of this methodology is demonstrated for eight roads. Based on real data from accidents and road characteristics, three compound road environments were established where the pavement surface properties significantly influence the occurrence of accidents. Results have showed clearly that road environments where braking maneuvers are more common or those with small radii of curvature and high speeds require higher skid resistance and texture depth as an important contribution to the accident prevention.     

Chitinous polymers: extraction from fungal sources,characterization and processing towards value-added applications

Chitin, chitosan and their complexes with β-glucan (chitin–glucan complex, CGC, and chitosan–glucan complex, ChGC) are value-added polysaccharides extracted from the cell-walls of many fungi. Commercial chitin and its deacetylated form, chitosan, are currently obtained from marine waste material, mostly animal sources (crustaceans and marine invertebrates), through harsh chemical procedures that have low reproducibility due to the variability of the composition of the sources and their seasonal character. These disadvantages are overcome by using fungi as sources of chitinous polymers. The extraction of chitin/chitosan from fungi cell-walls has the great advantage of yielding products with stable composition and properties, using simpler procedures, with the added benefit of also generating CGC and ChGC, two copolymers that combine the proven properties of chitin/chitosan with those of β-glucans. Over the last decades, fungal chitinous polymers have been the focus of extensive research that included optimization of the cultivation conditions of a wide range of species and the development of optimized extraction, purification and characterization techniques, as well as the demonstration of the biopolymers' biological properties, which include immunomodulatory, anticancer, antioxidant and antimicrobial activity. Given these properties, several attempts were made to develop applications for them in areas ranging from biomedicine and pharmaceuticals to food and agriculture. Despite their wide range of proven functional properties that include the ability to form different polymeric structures, as well as biological activity, fungal chitinous biopolymers are still underexplored. Nevertheless, these biopolymers hold great potential for development into valuable products or applications that are surely worth further investigation. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry     

Orthogonal persistence in nonvolatile memory architectures: A persistent heap design and its implementation for a Java Virtual Machine

Current computer systems separate main memory from storage, and programming languages typically reflect this distinction using different representations for data in memory and storage. However, moving data back and forth between these different layers and representations compromise both programming and execution efficiency. To remedy this, the concept of orthogonal persistence (OP) was proposed in the early 1980s advocating that, from a programmer's standpoint, there should be no differences in the way that short-term and long-term data are manipulated. However, at that time, the underlying implementations still had to cope with the complexity of moving data across memory and storage. Today, recent nonvolatile memory (NVM) technologies, such as resistive RAM and phase-change memory, allow main memory and storage to be collapsed into a single layer of persistent memory, opening the way for more efficient programming abstractions for handling persistence. In this work, we revisit OP concepts in the context of NVM architectures and propose a persistent heap design for languages with automatic memory management. We demonstrate how it can significantly increase programmer and execution efficiency, removing the impedance mismatch of crossing semantic boundaries. To validate and demonstrate the presented concepts, we present JaphaVM, an implementation of the proposed design based on JamVM, an open-source Java Virtual Machine. Our results show that JaphaVM, in most cases, executes the same operations between one and two orders of magnitude faster than regular database-based and file-based implementations, while requiring significantly less lines of code.     

Effects of altering the ratio of dietary n-6 to n-3 fatty acids on spontaneous luteolysis in lactating dairy cows

Objectives were to evaluate the effects of altering the dietary ratio of omega-6 (n-6) to omega-3 (n-3) fatty acids on the profile of fatty acids and expression of genes related to the prostaglandin biosynthesis on endometrial tissue, uterine secretion of PGF_2α, and timing of spontaneous luteolysis in dairy cows. Multiparous lactating Holstein cows (n = 45) were blocked based on milk yield and, within each block, assigned randomly to 1 of 3 dietary treatments at 14 d postpartum for 90 d. Diets were supplemented with a mixture of Ca salts of fish, safflower, and palm oils to create 3 different ratios of n-6 to n-3 fatty acids, namely R4, R5, and R6, which resulted in 3.9, 4.9, and 5.9 parts of n-6 to 1 part of n-3 fatty acids, respectively. Blood was sampled every 2 h from d 16 to 23 of the estrous cycle and assayed for concentrations of progesterone and the PGF_2α metabolite 13,14-dihydro-15-keto-PGF_2α (PGFM). In a subsequent estrous cycle, endometrial tissue was collected for biopsy on d 8 and endometrial fatty acids profile and gene expression were quantified. The proportion of arachidonic acid of the endometrial fatty acids increased as the dietary ratio n-6 to n-3 fatty acids increased (R4 = 9.05, R5 = 11.64, and R6 = 13.41%). On the other hand, proportions of eicosapentaenoic (R4 = 2.85, R5 = 2.14, and R6 = 2.02%) and docosahexaenoic (R4 = 3.30, R5 = 1.57, and R6 = 1.08%) decreased as the ratio of n-6 to n-3 fatty acids in the diet increased. Increasing the ratio of dietary n-6 to n-3 fatty acids increased mRNA expression of estrogen receptor 1, oxytocin receptor, cyclooxygenase 2, prostaglandin E and F synthases, and steroidogenic acute regulatory protein in endometrium, but decreased expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma and insulin-like growth factor-1. The changes in endometrium gene expression caused by dietary treatments were associated with changes in the ratio of n-6 to n-3 fatty acids in the endometrium. As the ratio increased from R4 to R6, the number of PGFM pulses (R4 = 5.6, R5 = 4.3, and R6 = 3.8 ± 0.6 pulses; least squares means ± standard error of the means) decreased, but the amplitude of the greatest PGFM pulse increased (R4 = 226, R5 = 267, and R6 = 369 ± 38 pg/mL). Luteolysis by d 23 of the estrous cycle was observed in 79.6% of the cows (R4 = 11/14; R5 = 13/15; and R6 = 11/15) and day of spontaneous luteolysis did not differ among treatments (R4 = 20.8; R5 = 21.1; and R6 = 21.0 ± 0.4). Three pulses of PGFM was the best predictor of luteolysis in dairy cows. Collectively, supplying the same quantity of fatty acids in the diet of lactating dairy cows, but altering the ratio of n-6 to n-3 fatty acids, influenced the endometrial fatty acids profile and gene expression and altered the pattern of prostaglandin synthesis; however, the changes were not sufficient to alter the length of the estrous cycle.     

A new eco-friendly mass formulation based on industrial mining residues for the manufacture of ceramic tiles

New eco-friendly mass formulations based on the scheelite and kaolin residues were developed to manufacture ceramic tiles. The start raw materials (scheelite residue, kaolin residue, feldspar and plastic clay) were characterized as to their chemical composition, main mineralogical phases, and particle size distribution. Three ceramic masses with 37 wt% of kaolin residues and different contents of the scheelite residues (2 wt%, 5 wt%, and 10 wt%) were formulated. The mass formulations were uniaxially pressed (19.6 MPa) to obtain samples with dimensions of 60 mm × 40 mm x 7 mm, which were dried at 110 °C/24 h, and sintered at different temperatures (1150 °C, 1200 °C, and 1250 °C). Dilatometric experiments measured thermal expansion coefficients. The results are in agreement with the literature, i.e., 6.0 μm/m°C^?1, 6.1 μm/m°C^?1 and 6.4 μm/m°C^?1 to samples with 2 wt%, 5 wt%, and 10 wt% of scheelite residues, respectively. The potential of the mass formulations studied was evaluated by linear shrinkage, water absorption, apparent density, apparent porosity, flexural strength, and mineralogical phase identification. The results were compared with the literature experimental data and International Technical Standards. It was concluded that the samples investigated have suitable properties for use as ceramic and porcelain tiles. Also, the pseudowollastonite and mullite phases were identified in the sample with the lowest concentration of scheelite residue. These phases are responsible for increasing flexural strength.     

Characterization of expanded polystyrene and its composites by supercritical carbon dioxide foaming approach

Journal of Porous Materials - Supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) has been used as a physical blowing agent to produce polymer expanded materials. Firstly, a statistic study was performed to...     

Formulation and characterisation of O/W emulsions stabilised with modified seaweed polysaccharides

In this study, seaweed polysaccharides (alginate and carrageenan) were modified with dodecenylsuccinic anhydride (DSA), and their stabilising properties in oil-in-water (O/W) emulsion system were evaluated. The physicochemical characteristics were determined by droplet size, interfacial tension and ζ-potential and structurally verified by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Both CRG-DSA and ALG-DSA applied in O/W emulsion system exhibited smaller droplet sizes over the increasing concentration and were more stable during storage than native ones. The ζ-potential of DSA-modified seaweed polysaccharides has more negative charge compared with their native forms, owing to the additional carboxyl groups from modification reaction. In addition, DSA-modified seaweed polysaccharides decreased the interfacial tension at soybean oil–water interface from 23.1 and 23.9 mN m⁻¹ to 14.2 and 13.6 mN m⁻¹, respectively. The successful modification reaction was confirmed by FTIR analysis. This study demonstrated that DSA-modified seaweed polysaccharides may serve as prospective emulsifiers in food, pharmaceutical and other industrial fields.