Lactoferrin,Quercetin, and Hydroxyapatite Act Synergistically against Pseudomonas fluorescens

Pseudomonas fluorescens is an opportunistic, psychotropic pathogen that can live in different environments, such as plant, soil, or water surfaces, and it is associated with food spoilage. Bioactive compounds can be used as antimicrobials and can be added into packaging systems. Quercetin and lactoferrin are the best candidates for the development of a complex of the two molecules absorbed on bio combability structure as hydroxyapatite. The minimum inhibiting concentration (MIC) of single components and of the complex dropped down the single MIC value against Pseudomonas fluorescens. Characterization analysis of the complex was performed by means SEM and zeta-potential analysis. Then, the synergistic activity (C_syn) of single components and the complex was calculated. Finally, the synergistic activity was confirmed, testing in vitro its anti-inflammatory activity on U937 macrophage-like human cell line. In conclusion, the peculiarity of our study consists of optimizing the specific propriety of each component: the affinity of lactoferrin for LPS; that of quercetin for the bacterial membrane. These proprieties make the complex a good candidate in food industry as antimicrobial compounds, and as functional food.     

Atrazine Inhalation Causes Neuroinflammation,Apoptosis and Accelerating Brain Aging

Background: exposure to environmental contaminants has been linked to an increased risk of neurological diseases and poor outcomes. Chemical name of Atrazine (ATR) is 6-chloro-N-ethyl-N′-(1-methylethyl)-1,3,5-triazine-2,4-diamine, and it is the most commonly used broad-spectrum herbicide in agricultural crops. Several studies have demonstrated that ATR has the potential to be harmful to the brain’s neuronal circuits. Until today nobody has explored the effect of ATR inhalation on young and aged mice. Methods: young and aged mice were subject to 25 mg of ATR in a vehicle made with saline and 10% of Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) every day for 28 days. At the end of experiment different behavioral test were made and brain was collected. Results: exposure to ATR induced the same response in terms of behavioral alterations and motor and memory impairment in mice but in aged group was more marked. Additionally, in both young and aged mice ATR inhalations induced oxidative stress with impairment in physiological antioxidant response, lipid peroxidation, nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (nf-κb) pathways activation with consequences of pro-inflammatory cytokines release and apoptosis. However, the older group was shown to be more sensitive to ATR inhalation. Conclusions: our results showed that aged mice were more susceptible compared to young mice to air pollutants exposure, put in place a minor physiologically response was seen when exposed to it.     

Equilibrium Prices on a Financial Graph

The analysis of financial markets usually assumes that trades are centralized and open to all investors. Investors are typically price takers. A relatively recent interest has been devoted to local markets open to a limited number of traders. Such markets may be fruitfully analyzed by means of graphs where traders are the nodes and trades are the arcs. In this model one bilateral trade occurs each round. Agents are risk averse and act myopically seeking to maximize their expected utility. Conditions for the agents to trade and to find an equilibrium price are determined theoretically. An ad-hoc algorithm is applied to find a numerical solution and to simulate the path toward the equilibrium price depending on different initial settings.     

Round-robin comparison of methods for the detection of human enteric viruses in lettuce

Five methods that detect human enteric virus contamination in lettuce were compared. To mimic multiple contaminations as observed after sewage contamination, artificial contamination was with human calicivirus and poliovirus and animal calicivirus strains at different concentrations. Nucleic acid extractions were done at the same time in the same laboratory to reduce assay-to-assay variability. Results showed that the two critical steps are the washing step and removal of inhibitors. The more reliable methods (sensitivity, simplicity, low cost) included an elution/concentration step and a commercial kit. Such development of sensitive methods for viral detection in foods other than shellfish is important to improve food safety.     

Role of Branched-Chain Amino Acid Metabolism in Type 2 Diabetes,Obesity, Cardiovascular Disease and Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) include leucine, isoleucine, and valine. Mammalians cannot synthesize these amino acids de novo and must acquire them through their diet. High levels of BCAAs are associated with insulin resistance; type 2 diabetes; obesity; and non-metabolic diseases, including several forms of cancer. BCAAs—in particular leucine—activate the rapamycin complex1 mTORC1, which regulates cell growth and metabolism, glucose metabolism and several more essential physiological processes. Diets rich in BCAAs are associated with metabolic diseases (listed above), while diets low in BCAAs are generally reported to promote metabolic health. As for the dysregulation of the metabolism caused by high levels of BCAAs, recent studies propose that the accumulation of acyl-carnitine and diacyl-CoA in muscles alters lipid metabolism. However, this suggestion is not broadly accepted. On clinical grounds, pre- and post-operative metabolic profiles of candidate patients for bariatric surgery are being used to select the optimal procedure for each individual patient.     

Epigenetics and Helicobacter pylori

Epigenetics regulates gene expression, cell type development during differentiation, and the cell response to environmental stimuli. To survive, bacteria need to evade the host immune response. Bacteria, including Helicobacter pylori (Hp), reach this target epigenetically, altering the chromatin of the host cells, in addition to several more approaches, such as DNA mutation and recombination. This review shows that Hp prevalently silences the genes of the human gastric mucosa by DNA methylation. Epigenetics includes different mechanisms. However, DNA methylation persists after DNA replication and therefore is frequently associated with the inheritance of repressed genes. Chromatin modification can be transmitted to daughter cells leading to heritable changes in gene expression. Aberrant epigenetic alteration of the gastric mucosa DNA remains the principal cause of gastric cancer. Numerous methylated genes have been found in cancer as well as in precancerous lesions of Hp-infected patients. These methylated genes inactivate tumor-suppressor genes. It is time for us to complain about our genetic and epigenetic makeups for our diseases.     

Indoor gaseous air pollutants determinants in office buildings—The OFFICAIR project

The aim of this study was to identify determinants of aldehyde and volatile organic compound (VOC) indoor air concentrations in a sample of more than 140 office rooms, in the framework of the European OFFICAIR research project. A large field campaign was performed, which included (a) the air sampling of aldehydes and VOCs in 37 newly built or recently retrofitted office buildings across 8 European countries in summer and winter and (b) the collection of information on building and offices’ characteristics using checklists. Linear mixed models for repeated measurements were applied to identify the main factors affecting the measured concentrations of selected indoor air pollutants (IAPs). Several associations between aldehydes and VOCs concentrations and buildings’ structural characteristic or occupants’ activity patterns were identified. The aldehyde and VOC determinants in office buildings include building and furnishing materials, indoor climate characteristics (room temperature and relative humidity), the use of consumer products (eg, cleaning and personal care products, office equipment), as well as the presence of outdoor sources in the proximity of the buildings (ie, vehicular traffic). Results also showed that determinants of indoor air concentrations varied considerably among different type of pollutants.     

Genetics of Host Protection against Helicobacter pylori Infections

This narrative review discusses the genetics of protection against Helicobacter pylori (Hp) infection. After a brief overview of the importance of studying infectious disease genes, we provide a detailed account of the properties of Hp, with a view to those relevant for our topic. Hp displays a very high level of genetic diversity, detectable even between single colonies from the same patient. The high genetic diversity of Hp can be evaded by stratifying patients according to the infecting Hp strain. This approach enhances the power and replication of the study. Scanning for single nucleotide polymorphisms is generally not successful since genes rarely work alone. We suggest selecting genes to study from among members of the same family, which are therefore inclined to cooperate. Further, extending the analysis to the metabolism would significantly enhance the power of the study. This combined approach displays the protective role of MyD88, TIRAP, and IL1RL1 against Hp infection. Finally, several studies in humans have demonstrated that the blood T cell levels are under the genetic control of the CD39⁺ T regulatory cells (T_REGS).     

Trimethylchlorosilane and Silicon Tetrachloride in Two Novel Methodologies for the Efficient and Mild Aldol Addition of β‐Keto Esters and Malonates to Aldehydes

Efficient and mild aldol additions of β‐keto esters and malonates to aldehydes are described using two novel protocols in the presence of silicon tetrachloride and trimethylchlorosilane, respectively. Scope and limitations of the methods have been discussed. Moreover the stability of the obtained products, trimethylsilyl protection of the hydroxy group, as well as the role of both silicon tetrachloride and trimethylchlorosilane in attaining the final products have been analyzed.     

Quantification of pathogenic microorganisms and microbial indicators in three wastewater reclamation and managed aquifer recharge facilities in Europe

Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) is becoming an attractive option for water storage in water reuse processes as it provides an additional treatment barrier to improve recharged water quality and buffers seasonal variations of water supply and demand. To achieve a better understanding about the level of pathogenic microorganisms and their relation with microbial indicators in these systems, five waterborne pathogens and four microbial indicators were monitored over one year in three European MAR sites operated with reclaimed wastewater. Giardia and Cryptosporidium (oo)cysts were found in 63.2 and 36.7% of the samples respectively. Salmonella spp. and helminth eggs were more rarely detected (16.3% and 12.5% of the samples respectively) and Campylobacter cells were only found in 2% of samples. At the Belgian site advanced tertiary treatment technology prior to soil aquifer treatment (SAT) produced effluent of drinking water quality, with no presence of the analysed pathogens. At the Spanish and Italian sites amelioration of microbiological water quality was observed between the MAR injectant and the recovered water. In particular Giardia levels decreased from 0.24-6.14 cysts/L to 0-0.01 cysts/L and from 0.4-6.2 cysts/L to 0-0.07 cysts/L in the Spanish and Italian sites respectively. Salmonella gene copies and Giardia cysts were however found in the water for final use and/or the recovered groundwater water at the two sites. Significant positive Spearman correlations (p < 0.05, r_s range: 0.45-0.95) were obtained, in all the three sites, between Giardia cysts and the most resistant microbial markers, Clostridium spores and bacteriophages.