Laminin as a Biomarker of Blood–Brain Barrier Disruption under Neuroinflammation: A Systematic Review

Laminin, a non-collagenous glycoprotein present in the brain extracellular matrix, helps to maintain blood–brain barrier (BBB) integrity and regulation. Neuroinflammation can compromise laminin structure and function, increasing BBB permeability. The aim of this paper is to determine if neuroinflammation-induced laminin functional changes may serve as a potential biomarker of alterations in the BBB. The 38 publications included evaluated neuroinflammation, BBB disruption, and laminin, and were assessed for quality and risk of bias (protocol registered in PROSPERO; CRD42020212547). We found that laminin may be a good indicator of BBB overall structural integrity, although changes in expression are dependent on the pathologic or experimental model used. In ischemic stroke, permanent vascular damage correlates with increased laminin expression (β and γ subunits), while transient damage correlates with reduced laminin expression (α subunits). Laminin was reduced in traumatic brain injury and cerebral hemorrhage studies but increased in multiple sclerosis and status epilepticus studies. Despite these observations, there is limited knowledge about the role played by different subunits or isoforms (such as 411 or 511) of laminin in maintaining structural architecture of the BBB under neuroinflammation. Further studies may clarify this aspect and the possibility of using laminin as a biomarker in different pathologies, which have alterations in BBB function in common.     

Self-assembled silver nanoislands formed on glass surface via out-diffusion for multiple usages in SERS applications

We demonstrate that silver nanoisland film self-assembled on the surface of silver-containing glass in the course of thermal processing in hydrogen is capable to detect 10⁻⁷ M concentration of rhodamine 6G in water using surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) technique. The film can be multiply restored on the same glass substrate via annealing of the glass in hydrogen. We showed that the film can be self-assembled after as much as ten circles of the substrate cleaning followed by annealing. The proposed technique of the silver nanoisland film formation enables multiple usage of the same glass substrate in SERS experiments.     

Compact DSOP and Partial DSOP Forms

Given a Boolean function f on n variables, a Disjoint Sum-of-Products (DSOP) of f is a set of products (ANDs) of subsets of literals whose sum (OR) equals f, such that no two products cover the same minterm of f. DSOP forms are a special instance of partial DSOPs, i.e. the general case where a subset of minterms must be covered exactly once and the other minterms (typically corresponding to don’t care conditions of f) can be covered any number of times. We discuss finding DSOPs and partial DSOPs with a minimal number of products, a problem theoretically connected with various properties of Boolean functions and practically relevant in the synthesis of digital circuits. Finding an absolute minimum is hard, in fact we prove that the problem of absolute minimization of partial DSOPs is NP-hard. Therefore it is crucial to devise a polynomial time heuristic that compares favorably with the known minimization tools. To this end we develop a further piece of theory starting from the definition of the weight of a cube c as a functions of the number of fragments induced on other cubes by the selection of c, and show how cube weights can be exploited for building a class of minimization heuristics for DSOP and partial DSOP synthesis. A set of experiments conducted on major benchmark functions show that our method, with a family of variants, always generates better results than the ones of previous heuristics, including the method based on a BDD representation of f.     

Strawberries from integrated pest management and organic farming: Phenolic composition and antioxidant properties

Consumer awareness, pesticide and fertilizer contaminations and environmental concerns have resulted in significant demand for organically grown farm produce. Consumption of berries has become popular among health-conscious consumers due to the high levels of valuable antioxidants, such as anthocyanins and other phenolic compounds. The present study evaluated the influence that organic farming (OF) and integrated pest management (IPM) practise exert on the total phenolic content in 22 strawberry samples from four varieties. Postharvest performance of OF and IPM strawberries grown in the same area in the centre of Portugal and harvested at the same maturity stage were compared. Chemical profiles (phenolic compounds) were determined with the aid of HPLC-DAD/MS. Total phenolic content was higher for OF strawberry extracts. This study showed that the main differences in bioactive phytochemicals between organically and IPM grown strawberries concerned their anthocyanin levels. Organically grown strawberries were significantly higher in antioxidant activity than were the IPM strawberries, as measured by DPPH and FRAP assays.     

Commiphora myrrha (Nees) Engl. extracts: evaluation of antioxidant and antiproliferative activity and their ability to reduce microbial growth on fresh‐cut salad

With the aim to develop natural preservatives displaying also chemopreventive activity, different Commiphora myrrha (Nees) Engl. extracts were studied. Myrrh essential oils, obtained by steam distillation and microwave‐assisted hydrodistillation, and several other extracts, obtained by sequential procedures with petroleum ether (PE), ethanol, ethyl acetate and butanol, have been screened for their antioxidant (DPPH· scavenging assay) and antiproliferative activity (on both nontumour and colon cancer cell lines) without previous purification. Considering that the colon cancer cell lines were more sensitive to PE and ethanol extracts, the latter of which showed the highest antioxidant activity (EC50 = 0.160 ± 0.008 mg mL^?1), both have been selected for further antibacterial/antifungal activity tests using an antimicrobial diffusion test and a growth inhibition test on salads. Results showed that the ethanol extract possessed the higher antibacterial and antifungal activity. Compared to untreated product, fresh‐cut salads treated with these two myrrh extracts displayed a significant lower bacterial growth. Although further investigation is required, these promising results offer hints as how to improve the shelf life of fresh‐cut salad.     

Structural design of carbon/epoxy bio‐inspired wind turbine blade using fluid/structure simulation

The purpose of this paper is to present the structural design procedure of a low‐speed, horizontal axis, bio‐inspired wind turbine blade made of carbon/epoxy. The methodology initiates with the mechanical characterization of the carbon fiber composite material. An aerodynamic simulation using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) method is performed in order to obtain the pressure distribution profile of the blade. This result is coupled with a Finite Element Analysis (FEA) to carry out an iterative design process through a Fluid‐Structure Interaction (FSI) simulation. Different stacking sequences of laminates are evaluated to find a configuration which allows balance between aerodynamic and dynamic inertial loads, ensuring an almost undeformed geometry during wind turbine's operation. The final structural design of the blade consists in six regions with different laminates. These are balanced and symmetric with distinct thickness characteristics and stacking sequences, which vary in three different orientations: 0^°, ± 45^° and 90^°, achieving a minimum deflection at the tip close to 3.11 cm, and a total weight of 3.6 kg of a 1.8 m radius blade, even with the restrictions imposed by the non‐conventional geometry. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Modeling the leadership – project performance relation: radial basis function,Gaussian and Kriging methods as alternatives to linear regression

The purpose of this paper is to analyze alternative forecasting methods that produce results at least similar to or better than linear regression (MLR) that can be used in the modeling of social systems. While organizations may be considered as typically non-linear systems, the common feature of most models found in literature continues to be the use of linear regression techniques. From a case study, advanced statistical methods of Gaussian and Kriging are evaluated, as well as an artificial intelligence (AI) tool, the radial basis function (RBF). The results show the best performance of the suggested methods compared to MLR, especially RBF, because of its uniform prediction behavior throughout all ranges of evaluation. These techniques, although somewhat unconventional in social systems modeling, present a potential contribution in increasing the accuracy and precision of the predictions allowing a more accurate assessment of the impact of certain strategies on the project performance to be made before the allocation of material, human and financial resources.     

Assessing the health research’s social impact: a systematic review

Scientometrics - In recent year, a growing attention is dedicated to the assessment of research’s social impact. While prior research has often dealt with results of research, the last decade...     

Mechanical squeezing of an elastomeric nanochannel device: numerical simulations and ionic current characterization

Peculiar transport phenomena appear at nanoscale, since surface effects strongly affect the behaviour of fluids. Electrostatic and steric interactions, capillary forces and entropic effects play a key role in the behaviour of fluids and biomolecules. Since these effects strongly depend on the size of the nanofluidic system, a careful characterization of the fluidic environment is necessary. Moreover, the possibility to dynamically modulate the size of nanochannels is very appealing in the field of biomolecule manipulation. Recently, we have developed a lab-on-chip made of poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS). This polymeric device is based on a tuneable nanochannel able to dynamically change its dimension in order to fit the application of interest. In fact, a mechanical compression applied on the top of the elastomeric device squeezes the nanochannel, reducing the channel cross section and allowing a dynamical optimization of the nanostructures. In this paper, this squeezing process is fully characterized both numerically and experimentally. This analysis provides information on the reduction of the nanochannel dimensions induced by compression as a function of the work of adhesion and of the stiffness of the materials composing the device. Moreover, calculations demonstrate the possibility to predict the change of the nanochannel size and shape induced by the compression. The possibility to dynamically tune the channel size opens up new opportunities in biomolecular sensing or sieving and in the study of new hydrodynamics effects.