New Insights into Red Blood Cell Microcytosis upon mTOR Inhibitor Administration

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of everolimus, a mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitor, on red blood cell parameters in the context of iron homeostasis in patients with tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) and evaluate its effect on cell size in vitro. Everolimus has a significant impact on red blood cell parameters in patients with TSC. The most common alteration was microcytosis. The mean MCV value decreased by 9.2%, 12%, and 11.8% after 3, 6, and 12 months of everolimus treatment. The iron level declined during the first 3 months, and human soluble transferrin receptor concentration increased during 6 months of therapy. The size of K562 cells decreased when cultured in the presence of 5 μM everolimus by approximately 8%. The addition of hemin to the cell culture with 5 μM everolimus did not prevent any decrease in cell size. The stage of erythroid maturation did not affect the response to everolimus. Our results showed that the mTOR inhibitor everolimus caused red blood cell microcytosis in vivo and in vitro. This effect is not clearly related to a deficit of iron and erythroid maturation. This observation confirms that mTOR signaling plays a complex role in the control of cell size.     

Antifungal activity of denture soft lining material modified by silver nanoparticles-a pilot study

Soft liner materials in oral cavity environments are easily colonized both by fungi and dental plaque. These factors are the cause of mucosal infections. The microorganism that most frequently colonizes soft liner materials is Candida albicans. Colonization occurs on the surface of materials and within materials. A solution to this problem might involve modification of soft liner materials with silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). In this article, we present results showing the antifungal efficacy of silicone soft lining materials modified with AgNPs. The modification process was conducted by dissolving both material components (base and catalyst) in a colloidal solution of AgNPs and evaporating the solvent. Composites with various AgNP concentrations (10, 20, 40, 80, 120 and 200 ppm) were examined. The in vitro antifungal efficacy (AFE) of composite samples was 16.3% to 52.5%.     

First step of anodization influences the final nanopore arrangement in anodized alumina

Anodic porous alumina is a well-known template material for nanofabrication. To obtain highly ordered nanoporous array, sophisticated and expensive methods are applied. On the other hand there is two-step self organized anodization, which is much cheaper, but obtained alumina arrangement is not ideal. In our paper, influence of the first step of anodization on the final AAO structure arrangement is studied in details. Anodizations were carried out in 0.3 M oxalic acid at 35 °C at various potentials and durations of the first step of anodization. Second step of the anodization was constant for all the experiments and was 15 min long. Oxide layer thickness formed during the first step of the anodization was 50, 100, 150 and 200 μm and after oxide removal, remaining concaves were serving as a mask for further growth during second step of the anodization. The longer first step of anodization, the higher regularity ratio and circularity, and lower percentage of defects in the nanoporous array. Anodic porous alumina was formed at four various potentials: 30, 40, 50, 60 V. The best arrangement of nanopores was found for samples anodized at 40 V. Maximum of regularity ratio was corresponding to the minimum of defect content in the AAO array. Long enough first step of two-step self-organized anodization in 0.3 M oxalic acid can provide high-ordered nanoporous template for fabrication of various nanomaterials with new, unique properties.     

Portal‐Masked Environment Map Sampling

We present a technique to efficiently importance sample distant, all‐frequency illumination in indoor scenes. Standard environment sampling is inefficient in such cases since the distant lighting is typically only visible through small openings (e.g. windows). This visibility is often addressed by manually placing a portal around each window to direct samples towards the openings; however, uniformly sampling the portal (its area or solid angle) disregards the possibly high frequency environment map. We propose a new portal importance sampling technique which takes into account both the environment map and its visibility through the portal, drawing samples proportional to the product of the two. To make this practical, we propose a novel, portal‐rectified reparametrization of the environment map with the key property that the visible region induced by a rectangular portal projects to an axis‐aligned rectangle. This allows us to sample according to the desired product distribution at an arbitrary shading location using a single (precomputed) summed‐area table per portal. Our technique is unbiased, relevant to many renderers, and can also be applied to rectangular light sources with directional emission profiles, enabling efficient rendering of non‐diffuse light sources with soft shadows.     

Biodegradability evaluation of wastewaters from malt and beer production

This study reports results of respirometric measurements of activated sludge biodegrading the substrate in wastewater originating from the following brewery plant production departments: malt house, brewhouse, fermentation house and racking house. The process was conducted at two temperatures: 10 and 20°C with activated sludge adapted to brewery wastewaters. The loading of activated sludge reached 0.25 g chemical oxygen demand per gram dry matter per day, which assured complete degradation of organic matter. The physicochemical characteristics of the wastewaters are provided. The study demonstrates a correlation between the site of wastewater generation, the specific character of a unitary technological process and the quality of the wastewater discharged to the sewage system, including biodegradability. Despite significant differences in the quality of the wastewaters, they were characterized by high biodegradability at a temperature of 10 and 20°C and by the C:N:P ratio being beneficial for biological treatment, irrespective of their source of origin. Copyright © 2013 The Institute of Brewing & Distilling     

Scuffing resistance of plasma and HVOF sprayed WC12Co and Cr3C2-25(Ni20Cr) coatings

The objective of this study is to characterize the tribological properties of plasma and HVOF sprayed WC12 Co and Cr₃C₂ 25(Ni20Cr) coatings. The coefficient of friction and scuffing resistance of coatings were found using the tests of ball-on-disc and Falex routines. The chemical composition of coatings was characterized using energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS) performed on the cross-sections of the coatings. The surface of deposits after measuring of friction coefficient was observed using scanning electron microscope (SEM). It was found out that the following properties of the coatings influence the scuffing process: (i) hardness; (ii) friction coefficient; (iii) method of spraying; and (iv) coatings' morphology. The WC12Co coating sprayed using HVOF method showed the best scuffing resistance and the most homogeneous structure.     

The influence of distribution of titanium alloyed into carbon ceramics by the intense plasma pulses on their surface wettability with liquid copper

The paper presents an analysis of wettability and structural properties of the near surface layer of carbon ceramics into which titanium atoms were alloyed using a new method based on the use of high intensity pulsed plasma beams. The influence of various parameters of ceramic pre-treatment process on their wettability with liquid copper is presented and discussed. The information obtained can be useful in designing the ceramic–metal joints and composites.     

Infrared-to-visible conversion luminescence of Er ions in lead borate transparent glass-ceramics

Transparent glass-ceramics were successfully prepared during controlled heat treatment of lead borate glasses. The PbF₂ particles were dispersed into a borate glass matrix which was evidenced by X-ray diffraction analysis. The phase identification revealed that crystalline peaks can be related to the orthorhombic PbF₂ phase. Green up-conversion luminescence due to the ⁴S_3/2–⁴I_15/2 transition of Er³⁺ ions was registered. In comparison to the precursor glass the luminescence intensity was considerably higher, whereas the luminescence linewidth slightly decreased in the studied oxyfluoride transparent glass-ceramics. It indicated that a part of the trivalent erbium was incorporated into the PbF₂ crystalline phase.     

Effect of Berberine Isolated from Barberry Species by Centrifugal Partition Chromatography on Memory and the Expression of Parvalbumin in the Mouse Hippocampus Proper

Neurodegenerative diseases associated with memory disturbances are important health issues occurring due to a prolonged life span. This article presents the results of a study targeting the emergence of a drug candidate with antiamnesic properties. The effect of berberine (BBR), an isoquinoline alkaloid isolated from the overground parts of Berberis sibirica Pall., on memory and expression of parvalbumin in the mouse hippocampus proper were determined. High-purity BBR was isolated by centrifugal partition chromatography from a methanolic extract from B. sibirica by using a methyl-tert-butyl ether and water (1:1 v/v) solvent system with 10 mmol/L of triethylamine and hydrochloric acid. In an in vivo study, we assessed the influence of the chronic administration of BBR on different stages of memory-related responses in mice. Our results indicated that the chronic administration of BBR in a higher dose (5 mg/kg) improves long-term memory acquisition in mice, as determined in the passive avoidance test. The hippocampal CA1–CA3 fields showed an increased number of parvalbumin-immunoreactive neurons (PV-IR) and nerve fibers as compared to the control. No significant changes in the dentate gyrus were observed between the groups. The HPLC-ESI-QTOF-MS/MS analysis of the biological material revealed the content of BBR as 363.4 ± 15.0 ng (4.11% of RSD) per brain, 15.06 ± 0.89 ng (5.91% of RSD) per hippocampus, and 54.45 ± 1.40 (4.05% of RSD) ng in 100 µL plasma. The study showed that BBR could be a factor influencing the expression of PV in hippocampal neurons. We speculate that BBR may modulate the level of Ca²⁺ in neurons and thus potentially act as a neuroprotective factor against neuronal damages.