Inhibition of Macrophage Oxidative Stress Prevents the Reduction of ABCA-1 Transporter Induced by Advanced Glycated Albumin

We investigated the role of aminoguanidine and benfotiamine on the inhibition of reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation in macrophages induced by advanced glycated albumin (AGE-albumin) and its relationship with cell cholesterol homeostasis, emphasizing the expression of the ATP binding cassette transporter A-1 (ABCA-1). AGE-albumin was made by incubating fatty acid-free albumin with 10 mM glycolaldehyde. ROS production and ABCA-1 protein level were determined by flow cytometry in J774 macrophages treated along time with control (C) or AGE-albumin alone or in the presence of aminoguanidine or benfotiamine. Mitochondrial function was evaluated by oxygraphy. Compared to C-albumin, AGE-albumin increased ROS production in macrophages, which was ascribed to the activities of NADPH oxidase and of the mitochondrial system. Mitochondrial respiratory chain activity was reduced in cells incubated with AGE-albumin. ROS generation along time was associated with the reduction in macrophage ABCA-1 protein level. Aminoguanidine prevented ROS elevation and restored the ABCA-1 content in macrophages; on the other hand, benfotiamine that promoted a lesser reduction in ROS generation was not able to restore ABCA-1 levels. Inhibition of oxidative stress induced by AGE-albumin prevents disturbances in reverse cholesterol transport by curbing the reduction of ABCA-1 elicited by advanced glycation in macrophages and therefore may contribute to the prevention of atherosclerosis in diabetes mellitus.     

Development of a three-component dynamometer to measure turning force

This work is focused on the design, construction and testing of a strain gauge dynamometer devised to measure the three components of the turning force. For this purpose, an elastic element sensitive to torsion and flexion was developed. The effect of the cutting parameters (cutting speed, feed rate and depth of cut) on the force components was investigated. Additionally, the performance of the dynamometer was compared with a commercial piezoelectric device. The results indicated that the three components of the turning force decrease slightly as cutting speed was elevated and increase linearly with feed rate and depth of cut. Furthermore, the analysis of variance indicated that the three components are not significantly affected by cutting speed; however, they are significantly affected by feed rate and depth of cut. The comparative tests indicated that the strain gauge dynamometer presented a satisfactory performance, providing closer values to the piezoelectric dynamometer at higher depth of cut values.     

Polymorphism and parent-of-origin effects on gene expression of CAST, leptin and DGAT1 in cattle

This study aimed to investigate differential allele expression (DAE) and polymorphism and parent-of-origin effects on expression of genes related to beef traits. CAST, related to meat tenderness, and DGAT1 and leptin, related to fat deposition, were evaluated. In bovine fetal tissues CAST was expressed twice as much (P < 0.05) in muscle of homozygous GG than in heterozygous AG. Leptin was expressed about one-tenth as much (P < 0.05) in heterozygous TpCm (allele T of paternal origin and allele C of maternal origin) than in homozygous CC. No DAE was observed. The evidence of polymorphism effect on expression of CAST and parent-of-origin effect on leptin contributes to a better understanding of events controlling the expression of genes of economic interest in cattle. Furthermore, if the parent-of-origin effects observed in fetal tissues are confirmed in adult tissues and associated to phenotypic variation, this parental origin criterion may be considered in marker-assisted selection of beef traits.     

Synthetic Phytochelatin Surface Display in Cupriavidus metallidurans CH34 for Enhanced Metals Bioremediation

This work describes the effects of the cell surface display of a synthetic phytochelatin in the highly metal tolerant bacterium Cupriavidus metallidurans CH34. The EC20sp synthetic phytochelatin gene was fused between the coding sequences of the signal peptide (SS) and of the autotransporter β-domain of the Neisseria gonorrhoeae IgA protease precursor (IgAβ), which successfully targeted the hybrid protein toward the C. metallidurans outer membrane. The expression of the SS-EC20sp-IgAβ gene fusion was driven by a modified version of the Bacillus subtilis mrgA promoter showing high level basal gene expression that is further enhanced by metal presence in C. metallidurans. The recombinant strain showed increased ability to immobilize Pb(2+), Zn(2+), Cu(2+), Cd(2+), Mn(2+), and Ni(2+) ions from the external medium when compared to the control strain. To ensure plasmid stability and biological containment, the MOB region of the plasmid was replaced by the E. coli hok/sok coding sequence.     

Land Reform beyond the Reformed Land: A Baseline Study of Unplanned Site Allocations in Brazil

This paper brings to light some of the problems deriving from not systematically using regional planning as a strategic governance tool in land reform policy. With concrete examples from land reform sites in Northeast Brazil, we argue that factors leading to suboptimal results include the lack of a suited space for planned conjunct actions as a means to propel broader regional development. Empirically, the paper identifies causes of the meagre regional implications of the Land Bill Programme, a government initiative aimed to fight rural poverty associated with landlessness. As a policy implication, we argue that regional planning can be an efficient tool for the placement of land through land reform, which would require not only providing land loans, but also designing concerted actions that would benefit an entire region.     

Complement C4 Is Reduced in iPSC-Derived Astrocytes of Autism Spectrum Disorder Subjects

In recent years, accumulating evidence has shown that the innate immune complement system is involved in several aspects of normal brain development and in neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Although abnormal expression of complement components was observed in post-mortem brain samples from individuals with ASD, little is known about the expression patterns of complement molecules in distinct cell types in the developing autistic brain. In the present study, we characterized the mRNA and protein expression profiles of a wide range of complement system components, receptors and regulators in induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived neural progenitor cells, neurons and astrocytes of individuals with ASD and neurotypical controls, which constitute in vitro cellular models that recapitulate certain features of both human brain development and ASD pathophysiology. We observed that all the analyzed cell lines constitutively express several key complement molecules. Interestingly, using different quantification strategies, we found that complement C4 mRNA and protein are expressed in significantly lower levels by astrocytes derived from ASD individuals compared to control astrocytes. As astrocytes participate in synapse elimination, and diminished C4 levels have been linked to defective synaptic pruning, our findings may contribute to an increased understanding of the atypically enhanced brain connectivity in ASD.     

Energy efficiency and throughput performance of power and rate allocation on incremental decode-and-forward relaying

In this paper we investigate the combination of rate and power allocation techniques in an orthogonal cooperative scheme using infra-structured (fixed) relays, under the incremental decode-and-forward protocol. We consider realistic large scale and small scale path loss models, taking into account the antennas heights and the presence or not of line-of-sight. Results demonstrate that the throughput performance can be significantly increased in the low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) region due to rate allocation (RA), and in the high SNR region due to power allocation (PA). In addition, we present an energy efficiency analysis which shows that RA is much more efficient than PA over the whole SNR range.     

GigaManP2P: an overlay network for distributed QoS management and resilient routing

Management of long‐distance, high‐speed optical backbones spanning multiple administrative domains requires new solutions for challenging tasks. In particular, it is not trivial to negotiate, monitor and continuously enforce the required quality of service (QoS) for applications that span multiple domains. This paper proposes GigaManP2P: a novel peer‐to‐peer (P2P) management architecture for high‐speed QoS‐aware backbones. GigaManP2P peers provide management services in a ubiquitous fashion through modules that interface with both the communication infrastructure and network users. In particular, we describe management services for on inter‐domain QoS monitoring and resilient routing. After detecting a QoS constraint violation trend, a proactive rerouting strategy is triggered based on redundant virtual circuits, allowing both full and partial rerouting. The P2P overlay implementation is the basis for allowing transparent communication across autonomous systems. Experimental results showing the overhead of the P2P infrastructure in comparison to raw Simple Network Management Protocol, and the performance of the rerouting strategy, are presented. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Quantification of styrene–butadiene rubber swelling as a function of the toluene content in gasoline: A new method to detect adulterations of fuels

The swelling of styrene–butadiene rubber (SBR) when exposed to organic solvents was measured and mathematically correlated to the toluene concentration in a complex mixture such as gasoline. This relation enables inferences to be made regarding the composition and quality criteria of the fuel and represents a new method to detect adulterations. Changes in the mass and volume were measured by gravimetric and hydrostatic techniques. A simplex‐lattice experimental mixture design was carried out in mixtures with toluene, heptane, and type C gasoline (a blend of gasoline with ethanol) and the mass swelling was statically analyzed for 5 and 15 min of continuous immersion in the mixtures of the solvents. For the experimental design two cubic equations were obtained with a high value for R²‐ajusted (>0.98) at 25°C ± 1°C correlating mass swelling of SBR and the content of solvents. For both immersion times, the greatest and most important effect over the mass swelling was the content of toluene, with the mass variations increasing proportionally with toluene content in the gasoline. The analysis of variance applied to the mass swelling data verified that it is possible to obtain good mathematical equations to associate the rubber swelling with the solvent composition and concentration. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2013     

Residual stresses in TiN, DLC and MoS2 coated surfaces with regard to their tribological fracture behaviour

Thin hard coatings on components and tools are used increasingly due to the rapid development in deposition techniques, tribological performance and application skills. The residual stresses in a coated surface are crucial for its tribological performance. Compressive residual stresses in PVD deposited TiN and DLC coatings were measured to be in the range of 0.03-4 GPa on steel substrate and 0.1-1.3 GPa on silicon. MoS₂ coatings had tensional stresses in the range of 0.8-1.3 on steel and 0.16 GPa compressive stresses on silicon. The fracture pattern of coatings deposited on steel substrate were analysed both in bend testing and scratch testing. A micro-scale finite element method (FEM) modelling and stress simulation of a 2 μm TiN-coated steel surface was carried out and showed a reduction of the generated tensile buckling stresses in front of the sliding tip when compressive residual stresses of 1 GPa were included in the model. However, this reduction is not similarly observed in the scratch groove behind the tip, possibly due to sliding contact-induced stress relaxation. Scratch and bending tests allowed calculation of the fracture toughness of the three coated surfaces, based on both empirical crack pattern observations and FEM stress calculation, which resulted in highest values for TiN coating followed by MoS₂ and DLC coatings, being K_C = 4-11, about 2, and 1-2 MPa m^1/2, respectively. Higher compressive residual stresses in the coating and higher elastic modulus of the coating correlated to increased fracture toughness of the coated surface.