Kunitz-Type Peptides from Sea Anemones Protect Neuronal Cells against Parkinson’s Disease Inductors via Inhibition of ROS Production and ATP-Induced P2X7 Receptor Activation

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a socially significant disease, during the development of which oxidative stress and inflammation play a significant role. Here, we studied the neuroprotective effects of four Kunitz-type peptides from Heteractis crispa and Heteractis magnifica sea anemones against PD inductors. The peptide HCIQ1c9, which was obtained for the first time, inhibited trypsin less than other peptides due to unfavorable interactions of Arg17 with Lys43 in the enzyme. Its activity was reduced by up to 70% over the temperature range of 60–100 °C, while HCIQ2c1, HCIQ4c7, and HMIQ3c1 retained their conformation and stayed active up to 90–100 °C. All studied peptides inhibited paraquat- and rotenone-induced intracellular ROS formation, in particular NO, and scavenged free radicals outside the cells. The peptides did not modulate the TRPV1 channels but they affected the P2X7R, both of which are considered therapeutic targets in Parkinson’s disease. HMIQ3c1 and HCIQ4c7 almost completely inhibited the ATP-induced uptake of YO-PRO-1 dye in Neuro-2a cells through P2X7 ion channels and significantly reduced the stable calcium response in these cells. The complex formation of the peptides with the P2X7R extracellular domain was determined via SPR analysis. Thus, these peptides may be considered promising compounds to protect neuronal cells against PD inductors, which act as ROS production inhibitors and partially act as ATP-induced P2X7R activation inhibitors.     

THE TRUEX PROCESS - A PROCESS FOR THE EXTRACTION OF THE TKANSURANIC ELEMENTS EROM NITRIC AC In WASTES UTILIZING MODIFIED PUREX SOLVENT*

ABSTRACT

A generic transurantc (TRU) element extraction/recovery process was developed based on the use of octyl(phenyl)-N,N-diiso-butylcarbamoylmetliylphosphine oxide, 0φD(iB)CMPO, dissolved in PUREX process solvent (tribntyl phosphate, TBP, in normal paraffluic hydrocarbon, NPH). The process (called TRUEX) is capable of reducing the TRU concentration by many orders of magnitude In waste solutions containing a wide range of nitric acid, salt, and fission product concentrations. A major feature of the process is that it is readily adaptable for waste processing in existing fuel reprocessing facilities.     

On some characteristics and related properties for OWF and RIM quantifier

Regular Increasing Monotone (RIM) quantifier and Ordered Weighted Function are important counterparts of discrete ordered weighted averaging operators. Some important characteristics such as entropy, Moment, and Step/Hurwicz degree have already been proposed and studied by several researchers. The main propose of this paper is to put the concepts of entropy, Moment, and Step/Hurwicz degree for RIM quantifier into a continuous environment. Some well‐defined representative families of RIM quantifiers are also presented. The metric spaces of RIM quantifiers are discussed.     

Convective drying of osmotically dehydrated apples described by three-dimensional numerical solution of the diffusion equation with analysis of water effective diffusivity spatial distribution

Abstract

This study presents two liquid diffusion models to represent the convective drying of apple, osmotically dehydrated in sucrose solution, cut into parallelepiped-shaped pieces. Model 1 considered water diffusivity and the volume of the slices with constant values. Model 2 considered water effective diffusivity and the dimensions of the slices as variable. The numerical solution of the three-dimensional diffusion equation in Cartesian coordinates was obtained through the finite volume method, with a fully implicit formulation and boundary condition of the third kind. Process parameters were estimated by an optimizer using experimental data. A spatial distribution analysis was carried out for water effective diffusivity and moisture content in the apple slices. The results showed that the concentration of the osmotic solution used in the pretreatment influenced the drying process and that the mathematical model that considered a variable diffusivity and shrinkage was more suitable to describe the experimental data.     

Structural investigations of RTA boron-doped thin a-Si layers

The structural changes in as- sputtered thin a-Si layer, and after boron doping with rapid thermal annealing are investigated by transmission electron microscopy. Stable hexagonal amorphous/crystalline series of SiO₂ structures, as signed as SiO₂ (SnO₂-V), not revealed in high temperature SiO₂ layers, are observed in all films investigated. Different types of crystalline and high ordered SiO₂ structures are obtained in the BSG film, used for doping. Boron penetration in the a-Si layer starts the crystallization at B/Si ratios lower than 10⁻³. RTA process leads to inhomogeneous disordered polycrystalline silicon layer, with large areas of poly-and monocrystalline silicon, coexisting with various crystalline SiO₂ structures. Faster crystallization and larger monocrystalline silicon regions are observed at higher temperatures and longest durations of the annealing process.     

Assessment of faecal pollution and relative algal abundances in Lakes Oconee and Sinclair, Georgia, USA

Water quality was assessed for five subregions of Lake Oconee and Lake Sinclair in Georgia, USA. The areas were chosen for their levels of human impact, including: (i) suburban development >30 years old; (ii) modern suburban development; (iii) industry; (iv) agriculture; and (v) an area of low human activity. The measured temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen concentration and turbidity values were normal for oligotrophic lakes. Faecal pollution in the lakes was determined using the membrane filtration method (Method 1600) on mEI plates for enterococci. There was a positive correlation between turbidity and the number of faecal enterococci in the lakes. The faecal pollution level was higher for the old suburban and agricultural areas. Faecal pollution in the agricultural region of Lake Oconee exceeded EPA regulatory standards. The faecal pollution source was identified using polymerase chain reaction detection, with Bifidobacterium adolescentis being a marker of human faecal pollution, and bovine-associated Bacteroides (BoBac) as a marker of cattle faecal pollution. Human faecal pollution was detected in the agricultural, old suburban and industrial areas of the lakes. In contrast, bovine faecal pollution was detected only in the agricultural area of Lake Oconee. Measurements of chlorophyll-a and relative algal community abundance indicated the least-impacted and modern suburban areas had significantly lower numbers of primary producers, being dominated by diatoms.     

Stable Blue Emission from a Polyfluorene/Layered‐Compound Guest/Host Nanocomposite

In this study a blue‐light‐emitting conjugated polymer, poly(9,9‐dioctylfluorene), is confined to the interlayer space of inorganic, layered metal dichalcogenide materials, metallic MoS₂, and semiconducting SnS₂. The nanocomposites are prepared through Li intercalation into the inorganic compound, exfoliation, and restacking in the presence of the polymer. X‐ray diffraction and optical absorption measurements indicate that a single conjugated polymer monolayer, with an overall extended planar morphology conformation, is isolated between the inorganic sheets, so that polymer aggregation or π–π interchain interactions are significantly reduced. Photoluminescence (PL) measurements show that the appearance of the undesirable green emission observed in pristine polymer films is suppressed by incorporating the polymer into the inorganic matrix. The blue emission of the intercalated polymer is stable for extended periods of time, over two years, under ambient conditions. Furthermore, the green emission is absent in the PL spectra of nanocomposite films heated at 100 °C for 7 h in air with direct excitation of the keto defect. Finally, no green emission was observed in the electroluminescence spectrum of light‐emitting devices fabricated with a polymer‐intercalated SnS₂ nanocomposite film. These results support the proposed hypothesis that fluorenone defects alone are insufficient to generate the green emission and that interchain interactions are also required.