The effects of surface elasticity and surface tension on the transverse overall elastic behavior of unidirectional nano-composites

The effects of surface elasticity and surface tension on the transverse overall behavior of unidirectional nano-scale fiber-reinforced composites are studied. The interfaces between the nano-fibers and the matrix are regarded as material surfaces described by the Gurtin and Murdoch model. The analysis is based on the equivalent inhomogeneity technique. In this technique, the effective elastic properties of the material are deduced from the analysis of a small cluster of fibers embedded into an infinite plane. All interactions between the inhomogeneities in the cluster are precisely accounted for. The results related to the effects of surface elasticity are compared with those provided by the modified generalized self-consistent method, which only indirectly accounts for the interactions between the inhomogeneities. New results related to the effects of surface tension are presented. Although the approach employed is applicable to all transversely isotropic composites, in this paper we consider only a hexagonal arrangement of circular cylindrical fibers.     

Phenylvinilbisquinolines as fluorescent markers in functionalized polypropylene films

Polymer Bulletin - In this work, polypropylene films (PP) and maleic anhydride graft polypropylene (PPgMA) at different concentrations of a photoluminescent dye 2,2′-(1,4-phenylenedivinylene)...     

Strategies to Modulate Specialized Metabolism in Mediterranean Crops: From Molecular Aspects to Field

Plant specialized metabolites (SMs) play an important role in the interaction with the environment and are part of the plant defense response. These natural products are volatile, semi-volatile and non-volatile compounds produced from common building blocks deriving from primary metabolic pathways and rapidly evolved to allow a better adaptation of plants to environmental cues. Specialized metabolites include terpenes, flavonoids, alkaloids, glucosinolates, tannins, resins, etc. that can be used as phytochemicals, food additives, flavoring agents and pharmaceutical compounds. This review will be focused on Mediterranean crop plants as a source of SMs, with a special attention on the strategies that can be used to modulate their production, including abiotic stresses, interaction with beneficial soil microorganisms and novel genetic approaches.     

Antibacterial properties of polyaniline derivatives

This work presents a detailed study on the effect of various functional groups both at the ortho position of the aromatic ring and in the amino group of PANI on the antibacterial properties of polymers against gram-positive (Bacillus subtilis) and gram-negative (Pseudomonas aureofaciens) microorganisms. It was found that incorporation of methyl, methoxy, or pentyl groups into the ortho-position of PANI did not increase the antibacterial activity but in most cases causes a significant decrease in the antibacterial properties of functionally substituted polyanilines. At the same time, PANI derivatives modified by incorporation of pentyl groups into the amino group were found to be more efficient antibacterial compounds against both gram-positive and gram-negative microorganisms than the original polymer. It was also found that N-substituted PANI derivatives manifest not only bactericidal but also bacteriostatic properties toward the test microorganisms. Varying the nature and position of the substituent allowed us to conclude that the synthesis of various N-substituted PANI derivatives with a high degree of doping is the most promising approach to PANI modification for application in bacterial growth inhibition.     

Fat Distribution and Lipid Profile of Young Adults with Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia Due to 21-Hydroxylase Enzyme Deficiency

We aimed to compare detailed fat distribution and lipid profile between young adults with congenital adrenal hyperplasia due to 21-hydroxylase enzyme deficiency and a control group. We also verified independent associations of treatment duration and daily hydrocortisone dose equivalent (HDE) with lipid profile within patients. This case–control study included 23 patients (7 male and 16 female) matched by an age range of young adults (18–31 years) with 20 control subjects (8 male and 12 female). Dual energy X-ray absorptiometry was used to measure the fat distribution. Male patients demonstrated elevated indices of fat mass for total (7.7 ± 2.1 vs. 4.5 ± 1.3 kg/m², p = 0.003), trunk (4.0 ± 1.2 vs. 2.2 ± 0.8 kg/m², p = 0.005), android (0.63 ± 0.24 vs. 0.32 ± 0.15 kg/m², p = 0.008), gynoid (1.34 ± 0.43 vs. 0.74 ± 0.24 kg/m², p = 0.005), arm (0.65 ± 0.16 vs. 0.39 ± 0.10 kg/m², p = 0.009), and leg regions (2.7 ± 0.8 vs. 1.6 ± 0.4 kg/m², p = 0.005) than the control group, but not in females. However, female patients demonstrated elevated ratio of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (1.90 ± 0.46 vs. 1.39 ± 0.47, p = 0.009) than the control group, but not in males. Total fat mass was inversely correlated with total testosterone (r = −0.64, p = 0.014) and positively correlated with leptin in males (r = 0.75, p = 0.002). An elevated daily HDE (β = 0.43, p = 0.038 and β = 0.47, p = 0.033) and trunk to total fat mass ratio (β = 0.46, p = 0.025, and β = 0.45, p = 0.037) were independently correlated with impaired lipid profile markers. Although there is no altered lipid profile, male patients demonstrated an increased fat distribution. However, female patients presented with an impaired lipid profile marker but demonstrated close values of normal fat distribution. Interestingly, the dose of glucocorticoid therapy can have some role in the lipid mechanisms.     

Magnetically Controlled Carbonate Nanocomposite with Ciprofloxacin for Biofilm Eradication

Biofilms are the reason for a vast majority of chronic inflammation cases and most acute inflammation. The treatment of biofilms still is a complicated task due to the low efficiency of drug delivery and high resistivity of the involved bacteria to harmful factors. Here we describe a magnetically controlled nanocomposite with a stimuli-responsive release profile based on calcium carbonate and magnetite with an encapsulated antibiotic (ciprofloxacin) that can be used to solve this problem. The material magnetic properties allowed targeted delivery, accumulation, and penetration of the composite in the biofilm, as well as the rapid triggered release of the entrapped antibiotic. Under the influence of an RF magnetic field with a frequency of 210 kHz, the composite underwent a phase transition from vaterite into calcite and promoted the release of ciprofloxacin. The effectiveness of the composite was tested against formed biofilms of E. coli and S. aureus and showed a 71% reduction in E. coli biofilm biomass and an 85% reduction in S. aureus biofilms. The efficiency of the composite with entrapped ciprofloxacin was higher than for the free antibiotic in the same concentration, up to 72%. The developed composite is a promising material for the treatment of biofilm-associated inflammations.     

Whence CRIPTO: The Reemergence of an Oncofetal Factor in ‘Wounds’ That Fail to Heal

There exists a set of factors termed oncofetal proteins that play key roles in ontogeny before they decline or disappear as the organism’s tissues achieve homeostasis, only to then re-emerge in cancer. Although the unique therapeutic potential presented by such factors has been recognized for more than a century, their clinical utility has yet to be fully realized1. This review highlights the small signaling protein CRIPTO encoded by the tumor derived growth factor 1 (TDGF1/Tdgf1) gene, an oft cited oncofetal protein whose presence in the cancer literature as a tumor promoter, diagnostic marker and viable therapeutic target continues to grow. We touch lightly on features well established and well-reviewed since its discovery more than 30 years ago, including CRIPTO’s early developmental roles and modulation of SMAD2/3 activation by a selected set of transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) family ligands. We predominantly focus instead on more recent and less well understood additions to the CRIPTO signaling repertoire, on its potential upstream regulators and on new conceptual ground for understanding its mode of action in the multicellular and often stressful contexts of neoplastic transformation and progression. We ask whence it re-emerges in cancer and where it ‘hides’ between the time of its fetal activity and its oncogenic reemergence. In this regard, we examine CRIPTO’s restriction to rare cells in the adult, its potential for paracrine crosstalk, and its emerging role in inflammation and tissue regeneration—roles it may reprise in tumorigenesis, acting on subsets of tumor cells to foster cancer initiation and progression. We also consider critical gaps in knowledge and resources that stand between the recent, exciting momentum in the CRIPTO field and highly actionable CRIPTO manipulation for cancer therapy and beyond.     

Step-by-Step Immune Activation for Suicide Gene Therapy Reinforcement

Gene-directed enzyme prodrug gene therapy (GDEPT) theoretically represents a useful method to carry out chemotherapy for cancer with minimal side effects through the formation of a chemotherapeutic agent inside cancer cells. However, despite great efforts, promising preliminary results, and a long period of time (over 25 years) since the first mention of this method, GDEPT has not yet reached the clinic. There is a growing consensus that optimal cancer therapies should generate robust tumor-specific immune responses. The advent of checkpoint immunotherapy has yielded new highly promising avenues of study in cancer therapy. For such therapy, it seems reasonable to use combinations of different immunomodulators alongside traditional methods, such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy, as well as GDEPT. In this review, we focused on non-viral gene immunotherapy systems combining the intratumoral production of toxins diffused by GDEPT and immunomodulatory molecules. Special attention was paid to the applications and mechanisms of action of the granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM–CSF), a cytokine that is widely used but shows contradictory effects. Another method to enhance the formation of stable immune responses in a tumor, the use of danger signals, is also discussed. The process of dying from GDEPT cancer cells initiates danger signaling by releasing damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) that exert immature dendritic cells by increasing antigen uptake, maturation, and antigen presentation to cytotoxic T-lymphocytes. We hypothesized that the combined action of this danger signal and GM–CSF issued from the same dying cancer cell within a limited space would focus on a limited pool of immature dendritic cells, thus acting synergistically and enhancing their maturation and cytotoxic T-lymphocyte attraction potential. We also discuss the problem of enhancing the cancer specificity of the combined GDEPT–GM–CSF–danger signal system by means of artificial cancer specific promoters or a modified delivery system.     

Spontaneous Oleofoams from Water-in-Oil Emulsions

Spontaneously foaming oil systems have been formulated from water-in-oil emulsions by the controlled release and entrapment of gas in emulsified water droplets contained within the oil. The cascade of events leading to their formation is as follows: Two Span 60-emulsified populations of water droplets, one containing Na₂CO₃, the other 10% HCl and caseinate, were mixed in miglyol oil; the controlled coalescence of Na₂CO₃ droplets with the HCl ones served as a microreactor for the pH reduction and the subsequent release of CO₂ from Na₂CO₃; these gas microbubbles were arrested by sodium caseinate, stabilizing a microfoam within the water droplets; these droplets expanded under the rising gas pressure, spontaneously transforming the surrounding oil into a foamy oleogel containing water droplets.