Duodenal content reflux esophagitis in the rat: an animal model for the ulcer-associated cell lineage (UACL)?

We have studied the histological changes observed in the mucosa of 10 rats in the region of a esophagojejunostomy to evaluate it as a model for the ulcer-associated cell lineage (UACL). In man, the UACL has a distinctive morphology, proliferative organization, and pattern of trefoil peptide localization. We have therefore examined these aspects aided by immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization to the trefoil peptides TFF1, TFF2, and TFF3. Only TFF2 was studied by immunohistochemistry, whereas the mRNAs for all three peptides were examined by in situ hybridization using 35S-labeled riboprobes. The marker MIB-1 to the Ki67 proliferation-related antigen was used to examine the proliferative organization of UACL-like changes. In all cases, columnar epithelialization of the distal esophagus was seen, and in all, glands with morphological and gene expression attributes of the UACL were identified. TFF3 mRNA localized patchily throughout the UACL, whereas TFF1 mRNA was found in the upper portions of the lineage and TFF2 mRNA and its product in the acini. These lineages showed virtually no intrinsic proliferative activity. These appearances are similar to those seen in early human UACL, and we therefore propose this that this represents the first published animal model of this lineage.     

Familial Mediterranean fever: clastogenic plasma factors correlated with increased O2(-)--production by neutrophils

Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is an autosomal recessive disease predominantly affecting Armenians and non-Ashkenazi Jews. The disease begins in childhood with paroxysmal attacks of pain and fever accompanied by peritonitis, pleuritis, and synovitis. During the acute phase, there is a massive influx of polymorphonuclear leukocytes into the serosal membranes, connected with degranulation of the neutrophils and with secretion of lysosomal enzymes and pyrogenic substances. An increase in the lipoxygenase product, leukotriene B4, a chemotactic agent, and a decrease in the activity of the inhibitor of chemotaxis, C5a, in serosal fluids have been considered responsible. Previous work from our laboratories had shown that the chromosomal instability observed in blood cultures of patients with FMF is secondary to circulating clastogenic factors (CFs), and that the antioxidant enzyme superoxide dismutase, as well as lipoxygenase inhibitors, reduce the chromosome damaging effects. CFs are observed in chronic inflammatory diseases and in various other pathological conditions accompanied by oxidative stress. Similar clastogenic materials were found in supernatants of neutrophils and monocytes after a respiratory burst and were shown to contain lipid peroxidation products and cytokines. In the present study we compared the clastogenic effects exerted by plasma ultrafiltrates from 20 adult patients with FMF to the unstimulated O2- production of their neutrophils. In comparison to 20 age- and sex-matched controls, which were studied simultaneously, the O2- production by patient's neutrophils was routinely higher than that of controls. The clastogenic effects of patient's plasma, expressed as the number of chromosomal aberrations induced in test cultures of healthy donors, were correlated with the importance of O2- production by their neutrophils (r = 0.5235). Even if the relative contribution of disturbance in arachidonic acid metabolism, neutrophil activation, and CF formation in the disease process remains unclear, the demonstration of oxidative stress in this genetic disorder suggests the use of antioxidants and free radical scavengers, in particular during acute attacks, when the classical colchicine treatment is without effect.     

Monolithically integrated InGaAs-P-I-N InP-MISFET PINFET grown bychloride vapor phase epitaxy

The authors report the preparation and performance of a monolithically integrated InGaAs p-i-n detector InP metal-insulator-semiconductor field-effect transistor (PINFET) receiver. The device was grown by two-step chloride vapor-phase epitaxy. The sensitivity of the receiver was measured as -33.9 and -25.4 dBm at 200 and 600 Mb/s, respectively, at a bit-error-rate of 10^-9 and a wavelength of 1.55 μm. It is noted that the performance of the PINFET receiver is currently limited by the thermal noise of the load resistance R_L, which is 5 kΩ     

Ni@Fe₂O₃ heterodimers: controlled synthesis and magnetically recyclable catalytic application for dehalogenation reactions

Ni@Fe(2)O(3) heterodimer nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized by thermal decomposition of organometallic reactants. After functionalization, these Ni@Fe(2)O(3) heterodimers became water soluble. The pristine heterodimeric NPs were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), M?ssbauer spectroscopy and magnetic susceptibility measurements. A special advantage of the heterodimers lies in the fact that nanodomains of different composition can be used as catalysts for the removal of environmentally hazardous halogenated pollutants.     

Extracellular Vesicles in Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma: Characterization and Diagnostic Potential

Diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is an aggressive B cell lymphoma characterized by a heterogeneous behavior and in need of more accurate biological characterization monitoring and prognostic tools. Extracellular vesicles are secreted by all cell types and are currently established to some extent as representatives of the cell of origin. The present study characterized and evaluated the diagnostic and prognostic potential of plasma extracellular vesicles (EVs) proteome in DLBCL by using state-of-the-art mass spectrometry. The EV proteome is strongly affected by DLBCL status, with multiple proteins uniquely identified in the plasma of DLBCL. A proof-of-concept classifier resulted in highly accurate classification with a sensitivity and specificity of 1 when tested on the holdout test data set. On the other hand, no proteins were identified to correlate with non-germinal center B-cell like (non-GCB) or GCB subtypes to a significant degree after correction for multiple testing. However, functional analysis suggested that antigen binding is regulated when comparing non-GCB and GCB. Survival analysis based on protein quantitative values and clinical parameters identified multiple EV proteins as significantly correlated to survival. In conclusion, the plasma extracellular vesicle proteome identifies DLBCL cancer patients from healthy donors and contains potential EV protein markers for prediction of survival.     

Topological map-based approach for localization and mapping memory optimization

Robotics in agriculture faces several challenges, such as the unstructured characteristics of the environments, variability of luminosity conditions for perception systems, and vast field extensions. To implement autonomous navigation systems in these conditions, robots should be able to operate during large periods and travel long trajectories. For this reason, it is essential that simultaneous localization and mapping algorithms can perform in large-scale and long-term operating conditions. One of the main challenges for these methods is maintaining low memory resources while mapping extensive environments. This work tackles this issue, proposing a localization and mapping approach called VineSLAM that uses a topological mapping architecture to manage the memory resources required by the algorithm. This topological map is a graph-based structure where each node is agnostic to the type of data stored, enabling the creation of a multilayer mapping procedure. Also, a localization algorithm is implemented, which interacts with the topological map to perform access and search operations. Results show that our approach is aligned with the state-of-the-art regarding localization precision, being able to compute the robot pose in long and challenging trajectories in agriculture. In addition, we prove that the topological approach innovates the state-of-the-art memory management. The proposed algorithm requires less memory than the other benchmarked algorithms, and can maintain a constant memory allocation during the entire operation. This consists of a significant innovation, since our approach opens the possibility for the deployment of complex 3D SLAM algorithms in real-world applications without scale restrictions.     

Performance of a novel,eco-friendly,cellulose-based superabsorbent polymer (Cellulo-SAP): Absorbency,stability, reusability,and biodegradability

Superabsorbent polymers (SAPs) have attracted tremendous attention recently, with researchers noting that their high water absorbability is valuable for various applications, especially in agricultural contexts. Two types of materials can be used to produce SAPs: Fossil-based (which are harmful to the environment) and bio-based (which are significantly more environmentally friendly, given their biodegradability and minimal toxic side effects). Although bio-based SAPs are preferable for environmental reasons, their synthesis tends to be time consuming and labour intensive, while their absorption capacity (AC) can be far below expectations. To address these problems, a novel, eco-friendly, cellulose-based superabsorbent polymer (Cellulo-SAP) was developed in this study through facile preparation via free radical synthesis using modified cellulose. Then, the absorbency, thermal/pH stability, reusability, and biodegradability of Cellulo-SAP were evaluated. This new polymer demonstrated reusability as a water reservoir, in addition to high thermal and pH stability. More importantly, Cellulo-SAP achieved an AC of 475 g/g and exhibited superior biodegradability compared to a commercial, fossil-based SAP. Accordingly, these results prove that Cellulo-SAP can be used in agriculture as an effective alternative to fossil-based SAPs.     

Conserved Active Site Architecture Between Bacterial Cellulose and Chitin Synthases

Glycosyltransferases (GTs) are a large and diverse group of enzymes responsible for catalyzing the formation of a glycosidic bond between a donor molecule, usually a monosaccharide, and a wide range of acceptor molecules, thus, playing critical roles in various essential biological processes. Chitin and cellulose synthases are two inverting processive integral membrane GTs, belonging to the type-2 family involved in the biosynthesis of chitin and cellulose, respectively. Herein, we report that bacterial cellulose and chitin synthases share an E-D-D-ED-QRW-TK active site common motif that is spatially co-localized. This motif is conserved among distant bacterial evolutionary species despite their low amino acid sequence and structural similarities between them. This theoretical framework offers a new perspective to the current view that bacterial cellulose and chitin synthases are substrate specific and that chitin and cellulose are organism specific. It lays the ground for future in vivo and in silico experimental assessment of cellulose synthase catalytic promiscuity against uridine diphosphate N-acetylglucosamine and chitin synthase against uridine diphosphate glucose, respectively.     

Multi-Material Inconel 718 Parts with Highly Conductive Copper Cooling Channels for Aerospace Applications

Multi-material parts can offer valuable solutions to engineering problems when compared to single materials. The conceptualization of a multifunctional Inconel 718 (IN718)–Copper (Cu) solution aims to improve the heat extraction capacity of an aerospace component. High-strength IN718 was used as the base material and highly thermal conductive Cu was employed for internal cooling channels. The cooling channels are produced by electrical discharge machining (EDM) and subsequently filled with Cu to be sintered by hot pressing (HP). The morphological, microstructural, hardness, and thermal properties of the hot-pressed multi-material IN718–Cu specimens are studied to evaluate the feasibility of HP processing as a viable manufacturing approach for these multi-material solutions. The multi-material IN718–Cu specimens presents a well-defined design with good metallurgical bonding between the two materials and a thin diffusion region is found, assuring the final properties of each individual material. The Vickers’ microhardness of IN178 and Cu are in accordance with the reported for conventional processes which indicates good densification. The thermal conductivity of the multi-material IN718–Cu specimen is 25% higher than mono-material IN718, which can be a significant improvement in the thermal efficiency of an aerospace component.